Baller to Lover
by efitch84
Summary: Santana and Brittany are on the girls' basketball team. After a big win, the celebration goes farther than expected. Santana acts like nothing happened. Through the help of the glee club and Brittany's little sister, Santana finally starts to accept who she is, but will it be too late?
1. Ball Game and Bets

There were five seconds left on the clock. Everything seemed to go in slow motion. Coaches were standing, yelling at their players to execute their plays. Teammates were standing from the bench, waiting on edge to see who would win. The McKinley Titans were down by one point, 54-55. Everyone was in the stands cheering for both sides. The entire gym was filled with people watching the girls' basketball team take on their biggest rival. Girls were on the court trying to get open to score that last necessary bucket to win.

_Four seconds left_. Santana passed her defender. She knew that this was the last play of the game. One opportunity left. As much as Santana wanted to be the reason her team won, she didn't have an open shot. Another defender came to guard her.

_Three seconds_. Santana faked a shot and the defender fell for it.

_Two seconds_. She passed the ball to an open Brittany, trusting the girl with the entire fate of the game. Brittany caught the ball. 

_One second_. She shot the ball up. The crowd went dead silent. A pin could be dropped on center court and it could have been heard throughout the gym. The ball hitting the rim captivated everyone's attention. It rolled around for an agonizing amount of time before it fell into the net. As the buzzer went off, the McKinley side of the gym went wild. The Titans won their first conference championship in girls' basketball ever. The entire team was cheering even louder than the crowd. Santana went to Brittany and picked her up two feet off the ground, spinning her. 

"Britt, you did it! I knew you could."

Santana placed Brittany on the ground.

"No, we did it!" 

Brittany gave Santana a quick peck on the lips. They just stared at each other, realizing what just happened. All of a sudden the entire team came over and picked them both up and put them into the air. They both looked at each other, forgetting what just happened for a moment. 

"You're right, Britt. We did it!"

Eventually, the crowd died down. The Titan girls went to shake their rivals' hands. Many of the girls from the other team were very upset. Santana was the last of the McKinley girls. When she got to the other team's captain, the girl stopped her. 

"As much as I hate you Lopez, you did good."

"Thanks, you too." 

The other team left the gym. The girls went into the crowd to say hi to their fans, friends, and family. Brittany and Santana went together to see the glee club. Everyone was there to cheer the pair on. 

"You guys did great!"

Rachel pulled both of them into a hug. 

"I'm in a good mood right now Berry, don't ruin it by talking too much."

"Santana, calm down. She's just trying to congratulate us. Thanks Rachel."

"You're welcome Brittany and you are too Santana."

"Alright, I'll play nice. Thanks Berry."

"You know you could call me by my first name once in a while."

"Don't push it."

Rachel sat back down in the bleachers as she pouted. Brittany looked at Santana. 

"Thanks San for trying."

"Anything for you." 

All the guys from glee club came up to the girls. 

"What? Is this attack of the testosterone-less men?"

"Santana…"

"Sorry Britt. I mean, hi guys. Thanks for cheering us on"

"Of course Santana. We haven't missed a game all season and we're especially glad we didn't miss this one. You two were great out there."

"Thanks Puck."

"I'm surprised you gave that shot to Britt, Santana. I thought you would have taken it."

Santana's face turned into a sneer. Brittany spoke up before Santana could let her rage out.

"Artie, you obviously don't know Santana very well. Just because she appears selfish once in a while, doesn't mean that she really is. She knew that she was covered. If she would have taken that shot, we would have lost. She put in all her trust in me to make that shot. I was the only one open. She knew I could make that shot and giving me the opportunity to prove that right was very hard for her. So give her a break. She did the right thing and she is as much of the reason we won tonight as I am."

Santana couldn't believe the words Brittany had just said about her. Somehow without her saying it, Brittany knew that Santana was very angry with Artie. She also knew that it was a lot of trust to give to Brittany. Santana loved basketball. It was one of her few passions; something she shared with Brittany. 

"Thanks Britt." 

Those were the only words Santana needed to say to get her point across. Brittany knew that Santana was a fragile person and Santana was very thankful that Brittany understood her so well.

After a round of hugs from everyone, the glee club left, leaving behind Santana and Brittany. Brittany's parents came over to them next. 

"Congratulations girls!"

"Good job guys!" 

Brittany's parents and her younger sister hugged the both of them.

"You girls were amazing. Can we take you girls out to celebrate?"

Brittany looked to Santana and she just nodded. 

"Yeah Mom. Where are we going?"

"How about that Italian place nearby?"

"Breadstix? Britt, you know that's my favorite."

"Breadstix it is."

Brittany, Santana, Brittany's parents and her sister got into the family van and drove to Breadstix. The group sat down in a booth. 

"So Brittany, that was amazing shot at the end."

"I couldn't have done it without Santana. She put her trust in me and believed in me making me believe in myself."

Brittany looked and smiled at Santana. Santana's cheeks quickly turned red. 

"Brittany was wide open. I knew she could make the shot so I passed it off to her."

"Well that's great Santana. You two make a great team."

"Thanks Mr. Pierce. So Ashley, what do you think about playing basketball next year?" 

Ashley was surprised that someone had talked to her. She expected the entire night to be about Brittany and Santana. 

"I'm pretty sure I will try out."

"Ash, that's great. You're really good and you should play."

"You really think so Santana?"

"Yeah! I've seen that shot of yours. It's almost better than mine."

Everyone at the table chuckled. Brittany smiled at Santana. She thought about how lucky she was to have her best friend and sister get along so well.

"I bet I can beat you."

"Okay. You're on Ashley. Tomorrow, 3 o'clock. Your driveway. Be there."

Ashley smiled at the competitiveness Santana had.

"What do I get when I win?"

"When? That won't happen. But to be fair, I will offer what the prize would have been. I would take you out for some ice cream and after we would go see a movie."

"Now I really want to win. What would you want if you win?"

"If? Come on Ash. You know that tomorrow, it's going down and you won't be able to handle this. So, my prize will be that you cater to anything Britts and I want for a whole day."

"Deal." 

Santana and Ashley shook their hands to formally agree as the rest of the Pierce clan shook their heads in disbelief. Food was ordered and everyone was laughing having a good time. Plates were emptied and stomachs were filled.

"Thank you for taking me with you Mr. and Mrs. Pierce."

"It was no problem at all dear."

"I had a great time. Picking on Ashley is always fun."

"Hey!"

"You know you love it." 

Everyone smiled at the playful bickering. Brittany's mother knew that Santana had a special place in her heart for Brittany and had created one for Ashley as well. Santana and Brittany shared a moment that her mother couldn't decipher. After the moment finished, Brittany's mother cleared her throat to speak up.

"Santana dear, if you would like to spend the night, we wouldn't mind."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. Just call your mother to make sure it's okay."

"Thanks Mrs. Pierce." 

Santana pulled out her phone but didn't get up from the table. She quickly dialed her mother's number.

"Hola Mami."

"Hi Santana. Is something wrong?"

"No. Mrs. Pierce asked if I wanted to spend the night at their house and I wanted to make sure that's okay."

"That's fine Santana."

"Thanks, bye."

"Bye."

Santana hung up the phone.

"My mother says it's okay."

"Good. Is everyone ready to go?" 

The table nodded their heads and filed out. The car ride was fairly silent. Santana had an unreadable expression on her face that Brittany was trying to figure out. They pulled into the driveway and entered the house. Brittany and Santana started to go up the stairs, but the voice of Brittany's mother stopped them.

"Brittany, can you go to your room? I just want to talk to Santana for a minute. Is that okay?" 

Brittany and Santana looked at each other slightly confused. Brittany shrugged her shoulders and bounced up to her room. Santana descended down the stairs to the kitchen where Brittany's mother was.

"Mrs. Pierce, did I do something wrong?"

"Oh no darling. I just wanted to make sure you were... okay. After your mother called, you acted very different. Do you mind telling me why?" 

Santana stared down at the ground.

"It's nothing really."

"Santana, the look on your face is not nothing. Here, sit down. Tell me what happened." 

Santana and Brittany's mother sat down at the table. 

"My mother and I have never really been close. She has never been there for me, like I've been growing up on my own. I am allowed to do just about anything because she doesn't care. I could have said that we were going to jump out of a plane and she would have said okay. The worst part is she doesn't know anything about me. She has no idea that basketball is very important to me. She has never been to one of the games. And she doesn't realize that Brittany and your family mean so much to me." 

Santana had tears running down her face. Brittany's mother pulled her into a hug which Santana gladly accepted. 

"Santana, I had no idea. Look, you are welcome here anytime. You are like family to us. I have never seen someone treat Brittany the way you do and get along so well with Ashley."

"Mrs. Pierce, you guys mean so much. I love Brittany. She's my best friend and I don't know what I'd do without her. And I love Ashley too. She may be a little runt, but she's like the sister I never had."

"I really appreciate it Santana. You have made this family so much better. If you'd like, you can call me Shannon."

"It's nothing against you Mrs. Pierce, I just don't think I can do that so suddenly. But thank you. It means a lot that you have let me into your family."

Shannon rubbed the tears from underneath Santana's eyes.

"Okay dear. Go back to Brittany. We all know how impatient she gets."

They both laughed a little. Santana stood up.

"Thank you so much. I don't know if you know how much this means to me."

"I think I do. Family is important and I want to make it clear that you will always have one here."

Shannon hugged Santana one more time before she smiled and went upstairs to Brittany's bedroom. She went inside and closed the door.

"Hey San. What was that all about?"

"I really don't feel like getting into the details, but your mom talked to me about how that I'm like family to you guys and that if I ever need anyone to come here. She saw how I reacted after talking with my mom."

It clicked in Brittany's brain about the look on Santana's face from earlier.

"I'm sorry San."

"Don't be sorry. I have the Pierce clan and that's all I need." 

Brittany flashed a toothy smile and Santana and hugged her. Their bodies lingered together for a little longer than usual. Eventually, they broke it off. Brittany cleared her throat. 

"So um, should we talk about what happened earlier?"

"What?"

"I think we need to talk about the kiss San."

Santana got nervous but she didn't know why.

"What's there to talk about? We both got excited after the win and it just kinda happened."

"So there wasn't any more to it?"

Santana hesitated as her bottled up emotions started to rise up. Quickly, she stuffed them back down. Santana had gotten good at that.

"No, why?"

"Okay, just wondering." 

Disappointment oozed out of Brittany's voice. Santana changed the subject as quickly as she could. 

"So did you want to watch a movie?"

"Sure. Pick one."

Santana picked a movie and put it in. Brittany got comfortable on the bed. Soon, Santana joined her. They covered up under the blanket and watched Pitch Perfect.

"Hey San, who's your favorite character?"

Santana didn't answer.

"San?"

Brittany looked over at the peacefully sleeping Santana. Brittany brought her voice down to a whisper.

"_San, I love you._"

She placed a kiss on Santana's forehead and fell asleep too.


	2. Next Morning

Santana woke up to Brittany cuddling her still asleep. Santana smiled at how cute Brittany was. Slowly, her mind drifted back to the game and the kiss. Santana wanted the kiss to mean nothing, but it did mean something. It felt right even though it was wrong. Suddenly, Santana felt fingers slowly drag across her slighlty exposed stomach. She felt a tingly feeling wherever Brittany's hand moved. Brittany shot up and started to tickle Santana.

"Stop it! Britt, stop!"

Santana and Brittany's laughter filled the entire room. Brittany continued to tickle Santana with a big smile on both their faces. Brittany's hands stopped when she had placed both of them on Santana's hips. Santana's breath hitched. They stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like forever. Brittany was the first to speak up.

"Breakfast is ready. Want to go downstairs and eat?"

Santana was still out of breath from the placement of Brittany's hands so she just nodded. Brittany got up, releasing her grip on Santana. She let out a deep breath that she didn't realize she had been holding in.

"Yeah. We should probably change clothes first."

Brittany grabbed some extra clothes for Santana to wear. They both started to take off their clothes. Santana stared over at Brittany. In her head, she was thinking "_There's nothing wrong_ _with me staring. I'm just curious, that's all._" She quickly looked away to avoid getting caught.

Once they finished changing, Brittany stuck her pinky out. Santana glady took it and they went downstairs. Food was being set out for everyone to eat. Brittany's parents and her sister were already in the kitchen.

"Good morning ladies. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes. After all the excitement from the game, we crashed almost instantly."

"Well breakfast is ready. Take whatever you like."

"Thanks Mrs. Pierce."

Shannon gave Santana a look as to say that she wanted her to call her Shannon but she didn't push it. Everyone filled their plates with food. They sat down at the table. Brittany's family is kind of religious. They said grace before they started to eat. Everyone then began to fill their faces just like the night before.

"Thank you. You guys treat me so well here."

"You are so welcome Santana. If you ever need anything, come find us."

"I will. And Ashley, don't forget that we have that game today."

"How could I forget? Today is the day that Santana Lopez will lose."

"In your dreams little Pierce."

"Sorry Santana, you know I'm right."

"We'll see about that later."

Santana winked at Ashley. Soon all the food was gone.

"Mom, that was amazing!"

"Are you saying that my cooking normally isn't good?"

"No, no. I just meant that after a night like last night, it really hit the spot."

She looked at Brittany when she understood that there was a hidden meaning but she couldn't quite figure it out.

"Well thank you Brittany."

"Are you staying here for the day Santana?"

"If that's okay with you Mr. and Mrs. Pierce."

"Why of course sweetie. I've said it before, you're welcome anytime. But my husband and I have to go somewhere today. Can you two watch Ashley today?"

"Come on mom. We watch Ashley all the time."

"So then it shouldn't be a problem. We'll be back around 10. Ashley needs to be in bed by 9 and showered by 8. Santana, you are welcome to eat dinner here and stay the night."

"I will. Ashley will be in good hands."

"Thank you. Your father and I will be leaving shortly."

Brittany's parents went upstairs to change. They started walking back down the stairs.

"See everyone later."

"Bye mom and dad!"

"Bye Mr. and Mrs. Pierce!"

"Bye."

Brittany's parents left. Santana and Brittany looked at each other with a mischievous look on their faces. Quickly, they both attacked Ashley at the same time. Ashley had no idea it was coming.

"NOO! Stop tickling me!"

"Never!"

Brittany and Santana tickled her until they fell into a giggling heap. Once their laughter ended, Brittany stood up.

"You two might want to get ready. It's 2:30."

Quickly, Santana and Ashley bolted off fighting to beat each other up the stairs. Santana ran to Brittany's room. Brittany quickly followed her and shut the door.

"You can borrow one of my cutoffs if you want."

"Thanks B."

Santana looked for the perfect cutoff. She had seen Brittany wear it before. Eventually she found it and changed into it. Santana took off her pajama pants and put on some basketball shorts and her shoes. Unbeknownst to Santana, Brittany had been staring at Santana when she was changing. To avoid getting caught, she decided to change into some shorts and a striped shirt. Santana had stopped and looked at Brittany when she saw her changing out of the corner of her eye. Santana shook her head to snap out of her thoughts and pulled her hair up into a high pony.

"Britt, what are you wearing?"

"I'm going to be the ref for your game with Ashley."

"Good idea. I didn't even think of that."

"Someone is going to have to break off the fight that you and Ashley are going to get into."

"You're probably right."

Santana put on a headband and grabbed her basketball out of her bag. She passed the ball to Brittany.

"Ready to go Britt?"

"Just one more thing."

She got very close to Santana and reached behind her. Brittany grabbed the whistle and put it around her neck. When she was done adjusting it, Brittany looked up and their faces were inches apart. Santana looked down at Brittany's lips and unconsciously licked her own. Brittany watched Santana's reaction. She felt her breath pick up. Brittany snapped out of it. Quickly, she placed a kiss on Santana's cheek.

"Good luck San. Don't tell Ashley but I'm rooting for you."

Brittany left the room..


	3. Softer Side to Santana

Santana stood in the middle of Brittany's room in shock. She put her fingers to her cheek, feeling the tingle that Brittany's lips left. She was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard her name being called from downstairs. Santana looked at the clock and saw it was almost 3:00 so she went downstairs to get a drink of water before she played Ashley. As she went into the kitchen, she could hear Brittany and her sister laughing and playing around outside. She smiled to herself, drank some water and joined them. Brittany smiled at Santana when she heard the door shut, but Ashley didn't look at Santana.

"Well it's nice of you to finally join us Santana."

"I know it is. My presence always makes everyone feel better."

"Shut it Lopez. Let's get this over with. I want to get my free food tonight."

"Someone's feisty. But I do agree we should start this. Britt, can you toss the ball?"

"Not yet. There a couple of rules. I don't really know what a real ref does so I'm making my own. First, no intentional pushing, pulling, shoving, kicking, hitting or biting. Second, the boundary lines are the chalk lines I made. And lastly, I make all the final calls. Don't argue with me because I won't change my mind. Got it?"

Brittany smiled at Santana and her sister. Santana and Ashley looked at each other chuckling a little. They both saluted Brittany.

"Yes sir!"

"Good. Now shake hands. This game should be friendly. If it's not, I won't talk to either of you for a week."

The girls shook hands as they pouted about the possible consequences of the game.

"What are we playing up to? And do you want to play one point per shot?"

"Yes. 10?"

"Sounds good to me."

"When I blow the whistle, the game will start."

Brittany waited for a couple of seconds to irritate the other girls to make herself laugh a little. She blew the whistle and tossed the ball up in the air. Santana got the ball and took control. Quickly she made the first basket. Ashley followed up with another basket soon after.

1-1. Santana and Ashley battled back and forth. When one girl scored, the other followed right after. The girls were very clean throughout the game. There wasn't a single fight that the two girls had. Both of them listened to Brittany when she said she didn't want them to hurt each other.

7-6. Santana was in the lead by one point. She took a shot very close to the boundary line and made it. Brittany called the shot good which enraged Ashley.

"Are you serious? She was out of bounds! This is crap! Just because she's like your girlfriend or something doesn't mean you have to make all of the calls for her!"

Brittany and Santana tensed at Ashley's words.

"Ash, she was in bounds. That's final."

In hopes to calm Ashley down a little, Santana tried teasing Ashley just a little.

"I think you're just mad because you know I'm going to win."

"Just shut up and give me the ball."

Santana was slightly stunned by Ashley's words. Brittany just shrugged her shoulders and gave Ashley the ball.

8-6. Ashley snuck in a layup and a pull up jumper to tie again with Santana. Brittany had no idea who would win because the two girls were so closely matched.

8-8. The next couple of shots from both girls were missed and quickly rebounded by the other. Things slowed down and the two girls were at the top of the three pointer. It was Ashley's ball. She was dribbling it where it was easy to do but hard for Santana to reach. As things reached a stalemate, Santana tried to spice it up a little.

"I bet you can't make a shot from there."

"I can."

"You can't make a three pointer."

"I've done it before."

"Prove it. I'll even let you take the shot unguarded."

Ashley shot the ball and it swooshed through the net. Santana was shocked. Ashley had a big grin on her face.

8-9. Ashley let her guard down just slightly after her seemingly easy shot. Brittany gave Santana the ball. She easily faked Ashley out and scored another basket.

9-9. After the shot was made, Brittany grabbed the ball. It was Ashley's turn to get the ball. As she reached to grab it, Brittany held the ball back.

"Game point for both of you. Next point wins."

She handed Ashley the ball. Over the past couple of months, Santana and Brittany had been working with Ashley to help her with basketball. One of the things Santana distinctly worked with Ashley on was faking out another player. Ashley tried her favorite move on Santana and it worked. Ashley pulled up for the jumper and the ball went straight through the net.

9-10. Santana Lopez lost. Brittany noticed that as the shot went in, Santana smiled. As she turned to face Ashley, however, Santana's face quickly changed.

"Are you serious? How the hell did that happen? A Lopez never loses!"

"Well one did now. Looks like I'll be getting that ice cream and we'll be going to see a movie tonight."

"I never thought you'd actually win."

"Oh well. A bet's a bet."

"Fine. But we're eating dinner here first. Then we'll go."

"Thanks Santana! I'm going to go upstairs and play some games until we get dinner."

"Alright Ash. We'll be in my room."

"Okay B!"

Ashley ran back into the house and into her room. Santana and Brittany walked back to Brittany's room as well. Throughout the little walk, Brittany tried to figure out why Santana smiled at that shot, but she couldn't quite figure it out. They got into Brittany's room and shut the door. Brittany knew that for whatever reason Santana smiled, she didn't want anyone to see it. Brittany decided to ask quietly about it so Ashley couldn't hear.

"Hey Santana?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you smile when Ashley made that shot?"

Santana's body froze for a second.

"What are you talking about?"

"When we all looked towards the hoop after Ashley shot the ball, it went in. I looked down at you and you smiled when you say it went in. Why?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh come on Santana. It's like you wanted Ashley to make that shot."

Santana didn't respond.

"Wait, you wanted Ashley to make that shot? That makes sense! I know you worked with Ashley on fakes. There's no way she could have gotten by you like that. But why did you do it?"

"Ashley is like the sister I never had. Sometimes, in order for someone to feel more confident, another person has to let them win. Your sister has never really been confident with herself. She is really good at basketball, but she didn't think she was good enough. By letting her win today, she believes that she can beat me. With confidence like that, she'll be unstoppable. And not just in basketball. I think she will be stronger in a lot of ways."

Brittany hugged Santana. She knew that sometimes Santana could be selfish, but everything she did was for Ashley. Brittany had no idea that Santana had this deep level of compassion.

"Oh San. You are seriously the best. One day Ashley will appreciate what you did for her."

"For now, I'll just let her enjoy the ice cream."

"And don't forget the movie!"

"Of course. And you better not tell any of the glee club about this. I don't need them thinking I've gone soft on them."

Brittany just smiled.

"You want to get pizza for dinner?"

"Sure. Let's ask Ash if she's okay with that."

"Wow San. With the way your acting, it seems like Ashley's more your friend than I am."

Santana hugs Brittany this time.

"You're my best friend Britt. I feel like Ashley is my sister so I care about her too."

The girls walked over to Ashley's room and knocked on the door. Ashley's voice is heard on the other side.

"Come in!"

Santana and Brittany go in the room.

"Hey Ash, you want pizza tonight?"

"Yeah. That sounds really good."

"You want the usual?"

"Yeah. Let me know when it's almost here. "

Santana and Brittany nod their heads and walk out. They go downstairs.

"I'm going to call the pizza guy."

"Okay Santana."

Santana dials the number into the Pierces' landline phone. After a few minutes, Santana hangs up and finds Brittany sitting on the couch watching tv. Santana sits next to her on the couch.

"Pizza is ordered and it should be here in about 20 minutes."

"Sounds good. I can't wait."

Silence fell over the girls. Brittany started fidgeting in her seat.

"What's wrong B?"

"Are we ever going to talk about what happened at the game?"

"I told you. There's nothing to talk about. We were just celebrating."

"But it wa.."

Brittany was cut off by the doorbell ringing. Both girls got up. Santana went to go grab the money and Brittany went to the door as they yelled to Ashley.

"Pizza's here. Come down Ash!"

Brittany opened the door. A man with a familiar mohawk was standing in front of her holding a pizza box.

"Puck?"

Puck stood outside Brittany's house and rubbed his head.

"Hey Britt."

"Puck, since when do you deliver pizza?"

"I started a couple of weeks ago."

"Why?"

"I just wanted some extra legal cash."

"Cool. How much is it?"

"$15, but you could throw in a nice tip for your good friend."

Santana joined them.

"Satan."

"Noah. Britt, how much?"

"Give him $22."

Santana handed the money over. Brittany smiled at Puck when he realized the tip he was getting.

"Bye Puck."

"Bye guys."

Puck walked away and the girls shut the door. Santana and Brittany went to the kitchen and put the pizza on plates. Ashley joined them. They each grabbed a plate and sat down on the couch in the living room. Santana sat in between Brittany and Ashley and turned on the tv. They watched part of a movie while quietly eating. Brittany was watching Santana a lot. She noticed how Santana would scrunch her face up and smile at all the little things that made her laugh. The girls finished the movie as they finished their food. Ashley stood up.

"I'm ready for ice cream. Let's go guys."

"Alright. Slow down Ash. I'll go grab my keys and we can drive over there."

Santana went up to Brittany's room and grabbed her keys. As Santana was about to walk out, something caught her eye. She looked at the board that Brittany had filled with pictures. Santana was in just about all of the pictures. There were so many pictures of the two girls together. Pictures from basketball games, glee club, competitions, vacations and parties flooded the area. In most of the pictures, the girls were always laughing and smiling unless they were actually trying to look at the camera. Memories of different events with Brittany came flooding back to her.

_Santana, Brittany and her parents were in the cabin. At least once every summer, Brittany's family goes to this cabin. Ashley got sick and stayed with her grandmother. This year was the first year Brittany decided to take Santana. They had been friends since middle school when they were first on the basketball team together. It was the last summer before the girls would be in high school. Brittany decided to ask Santana if she wanted to go to the cabin with her family. Since Brittany and Santana were best friends, she said he immediately. Santana and Brittany had spent the day out in the lake next to the cabin. When it started getting dark out, the girls went back inside. The family ate dinner together. They watched a movie afterwards. Santana and Brittany were giggling throughout the entire movie. When the movie ended, Brittany's mother gave the girls the carton of ice cream and a spoon. _

_"Why don't you two go upstairs and watch a movie? You can have some ice cream."_

_"Okay mom! Let's go Santana!"_

_Brittany grabbed Santana's hand and they ran upstairs. As they got into the bedroom they shared, Brittany shut the door and grabbed the remote. The girls had bunk beds but ended up sleeping on the top bunk together. Neither wanted to give up the top bunk so they just shared it. Santana and Brittany climbed up to the top and sat next to each other as Brittany set the ice cream to the side. _

_"Thanks for inviting me Britt. I love this place!"_

_"Me too! My parents take me here every year and I thought you'd like to come with us this year."_

_"Yeah. This is the best vacation ever!"_

_Brittany smiled at Santana. _

_"You want some ice cream?"_

_"Sure."_

_Brittany grabbed the ice cream container but realized her mom only gave her one spoon. She started to get off the bed but Santana stopped her. _

_"Where are you going B?"_

_"My mom only gave me one spoon. We need another."_

_"We can share."_

_Brittany smiled at the thought._

_"Okay Sanny."_

_Brittany sat back down and they started to eat the ice cream. Santana turned on the radio so it wasn't as quiet but they could still hear each other talk. _

_"Hey San?"_

_"Yeah Britt?"_

_"Have you ever, you know, kissed someone?"_

_Santana's eyes widened at the question. Throughout her whole life Santana lied to people except for Brittany. _

_"No. Have you? "_

_"No I haven't."_

_Brittany saw Santana smile just a little bit. The smile disappeared and became a look of confusion. _

_"Why not B?"_

_"I want my first kiss to mean something."_

_"Me too."_

_Brittany and Santana just stared at each other, ice cream completely forgotten. Thick tension swirled in the air above them. Neither girl dared to look away from the other. Finally, Brittany spoke up._

_"Have you ever thought of who you want to have your first kiss with?"_

_Brittany's voice was full of raw emotion. Santana had thought about it. She knew exactly who she wanted to kiss but she knew it was wrong. Her family and her church said it was wrong so it had to be wrong, right? Santana pushed her inner struggles back down and really looked at Brittany._

_"Kind of. Have you?"_

_"Yeah."_

_Santana was slightly surprised by the quick response. Her curiosity got the best of her._

_"Who?"_

_Brittany contemplated on whether she should tell the truth or not. After a brief second, she realized that she wanted Santana to know._

_"You."_

_Santana visibly gulped. She really wasn't expecting that answer. Unconsciously, Santana looked down at Brittany's lips and licked her own. She looked back up to Brittany's eyes realizing that Brittany had been watching her the entire time. Santana wanted to look away but she couldn't._

_"Do you want to kiss me?"_

_Santana nodded yes quickly before the feelings she was battling inside could make her change her mind. Slowly, Brittany leaned closer into Santana. After what felt like for forever, Brittany pressed her lips softly into Santana's. When Santana didn't back away, Brittany continued to kiss her. Santana finally kissed her back. Suddenly, the door knob started to turn. Both girls quickly covered up with the blanket and pretended to be asleep. Brittany's parents walked into the room. _

_"She Shannon, the girls are sleeping. They are okay."_

_"Alright alright. I just wanted to check on them. Is that a crime?"_

_"No. I know what you mean. Santana has become like another daughter of ours. I want to make sure they are both okay too. Let's go honey. I don't want to wake them up."_

_Brittany's parents left the room and shut the door. Once the girls knew that Brittany's parents were gone, the girls looked at each other and started laughing. _

_"I love you Santana."_

_"I love you too Britt."_

_The girls hugged each other not realizing the depth of those words. They lay back down and fell asleep in each other's arms._

"Santana? You find your keys yet?"

Santana was snapped out of her thoughts as she heard the voice from downstairs. She quickly grabbed her keys.

"Yeah I got them."

She ran downstairs and found Brittany and Ashley waiting at the door for her.

"Let's go."

Santana and Brittany got in the front of Santana's car and Ashley went in the back. They pulled out of the driveway and drove to the ice cream shop.


	4. Late Night Confessions

**Author's Note: Hi everyone! So I just want anyone who is reading this story to know that I have no idea how to write a good fan fic. I just had a simple idea in my head that I wanted to see if it could blossom into something great. Can you please review? Good or bad, I want to know. Suggestions are welcome, but so it's clear, if it already wasn't, Brittana IS end game. Who do you want to see the girls interact with? Also, this story is pretty much A/U with some mentions of Glee club later in the story. So thanks for all who have followed and reviewed so far!**

* * *

The drive was relatively short. Ashley was happily talking about how she beat Santana. Santana smiled as she pulled into the parking lot of Lima's old school ice cream parlor. Santana shut off the car and the girls went inside.

"Alright, squirt. Get whatever you want. I'm in a giving mood today."

Santana looks over at Brittany as Ashley curiously looks at the menu.

"You can get whatever you want too B."

"I don't want you to spend all of your money on Ashley and me."

"Who said I was spending everything on you two?"

Brittany threw Santana a confused look. Santana just eyed the menu.

"I'm getting something for myself too. If you want, we can share the big sundae."

Brittany smiled and thought back to the first time that she had shared ice cream with Santana. She shivered at the thought of her first kiss with Santana as it had been that same night. Brittany was snapped back to the present when she saw Santana's hand wave in front of her face.

"Uh, what? Sorry."

"Do you want to share the sundae?"

"Of course San."

Santana ordered the ice cream for all of them while Brittany and Ashley sat in their favorite booth. She waited patiently until the teenager at the counter handed her the ice cream. Santana thanked him and took the seat next to Brittany. Santana handed Ashley her ice cream and spoon and gave Brittany a spoon too.

"Thanks Sanny."

"You're welcome B."

"Even though you lost and this was the price, I'll still be nice and say thank you."

"You better Ash. Otherwise next time, I'll make sure that I don't be so giving."

Santana smirked at Ashley who just shook her head and took a spoonful of ice cream. The three girls just sat quietly all enjoying their ice cream with thoughts taking over their own heads. Ashley was happy that Santana and Brittany were paying attention to her. Most of the time she felt ignored by them when Santana was over, which is like all the time. For once, they both were being nice to her and hanging out with her. Brittany was thinking about Lord Tubbington and his crazy antics until she suddenly felt Santana's leg press against hers. She looked to Santana. Brittany couldn't tell for sure, but she thought she saw a blush creep onto Santana's face. With all of the girls off in their own thoughts, none of them noticed the couple who came to the table. A female's voice caught their attention.

"Satan, why doesn't it surprise me that you're here with Britt?"

"Is there a problem with that Wheezy?"

"Not at all. Who's this?"

"I'm Ashley, Brittany's sister."

Mercedes extended her hand to Ashley for her to shake it.

"I'm Mercedes. This is Sam, my boyfriend."

"Hi Mercedes. Hi Sam. Why do you have such big lips?"

"Ash, just because it's Trouty Mouth doesn't mean you can just ask why his lips are deformed like that."

"Thanks, I guess, Santana."

"Satan, Britt, are you two going to Puck's party next week?"

"Maybe. Depends on how the game goes Wheezy. Is the Glee club going to be at the game next Friday?"

"Wouldn't miss it. Now we're going to leave before something causes us to break out into heated song and dance."

"That's never going to happen outside of Glee club!"

Mercedes smiled but shook her head. Sam grabbed her hand and they left the parlor. Santana saw the cute gesture and instantly felt jealous. She started thinking to herself _"Why don't I have that? Puck was a big mistake and I'm never going back. The only guys that I even give the light of day are in the Glee club, but they all repulse me. I'm probably going to be alone forever. At least I've got Britt. She is such a good friend. I love when she takes my hand in the hallway when she's afraid she'll get lost. But that's normal, right? There's nothing wrong with wanting your best friend to hold your hand. Right?"_ Ashley's voice cut through Santana's thoughts.

"Can I go to the party?"

"Sorry Ash. The party is for people in high school. You wouldn't know anyone."

"But Britt Britt, I want to go!"

"I'm sorry, but you can't. You can hang out with us Saturday night. How about that?"

"Really?"

"Of course Ash. I'll make sure San comes over and we'll have a special movie night, just the three of us."

"Okay Britt. Thank you."

The three girls finished their ice cream and went back to the car. It was a silent, but comfortable ride back to the Pierce's. They entered the house and turned on most of the lights. It was around 7:30.

"Ash, it's time to take your bath. I want to make sure that everything is done the way mom wanted to. I don't need to get yelled at."

"Fine."

"Ash, go upstairs and get your pajamas."

Ashley went upstairs begrudgingly. Brittany turned to Santana.

"San, can you help me get the bath ready?

She just nodded her head and they both went upstairs too. Sometimes Brittany still got confused on how to work the shower. Santana explained to Brittany how to work it every time she was there but Brittany never fully grasped the information. Santana turned the water on and let it run until she thought the water was for sure the perfect temperature. She added some vanilla scented bubble bath as Ashley entered the bathroom. Santana looked up to Ashley who was clutching her clothes and towel tightly to her chest.

"Are you ready Ash?"

"Yeah I guess."

Brittany entered the room.

"I have to go downstairs and call mom for something. Can you handle this on your own for a bit San?"

Brittany left the room without waiting for a response.

"I guess it's just you and me Squirt."

Ashley shyly smiled. Santana shut the door and Ashley undressed and got into the tub.

"Hey Santana?"

"Yeah Ash?"

"Why don't you have a boyfriend like Sam?"

Santana had been massaging shampoo into Ashley's scalp but stopped at the question. She didn't know the answer for herself. How could she give an answer to Ashley?

"I... I'm not sure."

Santana returned to shampooing Ashley's hair.

"What happened to you and Puck? Britty always used to be sad when you were together. I'm glad you're not with him though."

"We weren't right for each other so I uh... I guess I just haven't found the right person yet."

"I think Britt is the right person for you."

Santana felt her mouth go dry. In hopes to prevent Ashley from thinking that something was wrong, she moved to help rinse out her hair.

"Why do you say that Ash?"

"You and Britt are always together. You even hold hands like I saw Mercedes and Sam do tonight. Britt is happier when you're around and locks herself in her room when you are fighting. Isn't that what love is? When you feel happier when that certain person is around and feel incomplete without them?"

Santana didn't know how to respond to Ashley's words. She knew that Ashley was right about her idea of love. But there is no way that Santana is in love with Brittany. Santana knows that she loves Brittany because she is her best friend but it can't be more than that. _"There is no way that I'm in love with Brittany. It isn't true. It can't be true."_

"Ash, I love your sister and she loves me only because we are best friends. When you meet someone that you know for a long time, you'll understand."

"I get that. What I don't understand is that when you two are together, you look like Mom and Dad."

"What do you mean?"

"You look like you are happy as a couple, like dating and in love. I think you love Britt more than a friend and she loves you more than a friend too."

Santana opened her mouth but quickly shut it as she was shocked and didn't know how to respond to Ashley. She couldn't deny, no matter how hard she tried, that it always felt like there was something different between her and Brittany. Santana didn't know what it was. She was still confused by it. It was something that only revolved around Brittany. She could never pinpoint exactly what it was though. Santana believed that it happened to everyone with their best friend because she didn't want to think of what Ashley was implying. It couldn't be possible that she was in love with Brittany. Santana isn't gay. She dates boys. Santana had been with Puck, Sam, Finn, and even that Matt kid. So she couldn't like girls. Santana tried pushing away those thoughts but it brought other things to the surface. None of them made her feel good. Sure, they were nice to her, but it wasn't love or that they truly cared for her. _"Why did I even date them? I wasn't and never could be in love with them. Puck has Quinn, Sam is with Mercedes, and the god awful worst couple is Berry and Finn. Those guys were never meant for me. Who do I belong with? Brittany's my best friend but there's no way that it could be more than that. I don't like girls. Sure, they are really pretty and I look at them when we're in the locker room. But that's because I'm jealous, right? Other girls look at each other all the time right? If I did like girls, which I don't, it's not like I would be able to say anything. Lima is a small town and anyone who is different in any way is screwed. It's bad enough that I joined Glee club. I love the club and the people in there but because of the club, I don't have the exact hold over people I used to. Sure, people still understand that Snixx could come out at any moment and attack them, but they don't seem to fear me as much as they used to. If there was anything else different about me, I would be lost. Maybe if I would have just continued cheerleading in the winter instead of basketball, I would have kept that power. Image is very important to me because that's what my parents taught me. They always say that how you portray yourself is extremely important, even if it means fudging the truth." _Santana was brought to the present as she realized that she still hadn't replied to Ashley.

"Britt and I are just friends Ash."

Santana's words felt like acid on her tongue. She didn't want to admit it, but the way she felt was suddenly becoming less and less foggy. Santana knew that her leers in the locker room were not normal. The reason why her past relationships never worked out was because she was never interested in the guys she dated. Finally, she understood why she felt a spark the two times Brittany had kissed her. There was no way that she would say it out loud, but Santana came to the biggest realization of her life. Everything was starting to make more sense for her. Moments in Santana's life that she didn't understand before were finally clear. It just clicked. But she couldn't let herself think it. If Santana thought it, she wouldn't be able to pretend she was normal. Thinking about it would lead to things that Santana was not ready for. But Santana couldn't bear keeping the reason of why she was unhappy out of her thoughts. If finally admitting her problems would maybe keep her from being such a raging bitch to everyone, then maybe it's worth it. Santana took a deep breath. She cleared her mind except for one thing. Santana held on to it for a few more seconds before letting her mind say it, _"I'm gay." _She let her mind repeat that thought a couple more times to let it sink in.

"I'm gay..."

Unbeknownst to Santana, she mumbled her thoughts very softly. Ashley heard Santana. She knew exactly what that word meant. A little smile crept on her small face as she realized that Brittany and Santana were one step closer to being together. She loved Santana like a sister. Ashley knew that Santana was the person her sister was in love with. Being only nine years old, she didn't exactly understand why they weren't already together. It was obvious to her that they liked each other. Ashley worried that maybe Santana wasn't ready to be in a real relationship. She heard Santana still talking but didn't understand what she said.

"What Santana?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, nothing. Are you done with your bath Ash?"

"Yeah. Can you hand me my towel?"

Santana stood up and wrapped the younger girl in the soft towel.

"Do you want me to brush your hair?"

Ashley nodded furiously. She loves when Santana brushes her hair because Brittany doesn't brush it for her very often anymore.

"When I'm done with your hair, you have to put your clothes on and brush your teeth."

"Okay Santana."

Santana brushed her hair softly humming something in Spanish to soothe Ashley. She finished and helped Ashley get dressed. When she started brushing her teeth, Brittany knocked on the door. She opened it up just a crack.

"Can I come in?"

"Of course you can Britt. Ashley is just brushing her teeth."

Brittany entered the bathroom.

"Look at you Ashley, all cleaned up and ready to go to bed."

Ashley rinsed her mouth out and yawned.

"Yeah and I'm tired."

Santana quickly picked up Ashley from the ground, causing a few squeals from the younger girl.

"San, what are you doing?"

"I'm taking the little princess to bed. Ready Squirt?"

"Yes, you can carry me to my castle!"

The girls laughed as they went to Ashley's bedroom. Brittany moved the blankets so Santana could lay Ashley down on the bed. Once she stilled, both girls tucked her in to the blanket.

"Do you need us to read you a bedtime story? We haven't done that in a long time."

"Can you make one up?"

Brittany looked at Santana with worry. Brittany was good with creativity when it came to singing and dancing, but she wasn't good with words. Santana knew exactly what Brittany was thinking and smiled to tell her that she could handle it.

"I think we can do that for you Ash. Are you ready?"

Ashley grabbed her favorite stuffed elephant and held it tightly in her arms. Both girls sat down on either side of Ashley.

"Okay, go ahead."

Santana cleared her throat and Ashley laughed as she prepared the best narrator voice she could think of.

"Once upon a time, there was a special girl named Sarah. She was very strong, despite not being close with her family. One day, she met another very special person. They became the best of friends. The two were inseparable as they did everything and anything they could possibly imagine. Sarah was so happy to have this friend because along with this friend, she got the family she didn't have at home. She got a little sister, someone just like you."

Santana pressed her finger softly into Ashley's nose causing her to chuckle.

"And two adults that treated her as if she were their own daughter. One day, Sarah realized that she was different. She was very different from the other girls in the kingdom. The special girl had a secret. A secret that even she wasn't ready to admit. But then, her new friend's little sister figured it out. Her little sister somehow managed to figure out the biggest secret in the Sarah's life and didn't bat an eyelash. Through the help of that little girl, Sarah finally was able to be herself. Sarah and all of the new people she met lived happily ever after."

Santana looked down at Ashley who was now sound asleep. She was softly snoring in a cute way. Santana placed a kiss on her forehead. She whispered one more thing before she motioned for Brittany to go with her to Brittany's room.

"The end."

Brittany mimicked Santana's actions by giving Ashley a quick kiss before following Santana out of the room. They went to Brittany's room and shut the door. A million thoughts were running through Brittany's mind. The phone call to her mom was very quick so she came upstairs right away. She stood outside the bathroom door, listening to her sister and Santana talking. There were times that they were too quiet for her to hear, but there was one line that Brittany distinctly remembered hearing, _"I think you love Britt more than a friend and she loves you more than a friend too."_ How could Ashley possibly know that? _"I just figured out that she liked Santana more than just a friend. How could Ashley have picked up on it so quickly? Wait, does that mean that Santana might like me back?" _Brittany focused her attention to the raven-haired girl sitting on her bed. She sat down next to her. Even though Brittany was unsure if it was a good idea to pry, she decided to ask about the story.

"San? Where did you come up with that story?"

"I, uh, just made it up, uh, off the top of my head. Why?"

"Just wondering.

Brittany knew with a response like that she wasn't going to get anything out of Santana. So she decided on saying something else.

"And thanks."

"For what B?"

"Everything you did for Ashley. She means a lot to me and so do you so I'm really happy that you two are so close."

"I love your sister. She's my favorite person, next to you."

Brittany felt her cheeks redden at the compliment.

"You're my favorite person too, Sanny."

Brittany hugged Santana which only added to the similar blush that appeared on Santana's face. After they separated from the hug, they stared into each other's each, both afraid to look away. Suddenly, Lord Tubbington jumped from Brittany's desk onto the floor creating a loud noise. Both girls instantly looked at the big cat.

"Hey Chubbers, do you have to make so much noise? Someone is sleeping in the room next to us."

Lord Tubbington just looked at Santana with the look of nonchalance that he always wears. When the girls believed that LT was done making a ruckus, they dared to look back at each other. Brittany was the first to speak up.

"San?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"I... I have s...something to tell you."

"What is it B?"

Brittany paused for a moment. She knew that if she said something now, she could never take it back. She didn't know if she was ready to possibly lose Santana over this, but she didn't want to keep it from her any longer.

"San, I'm bi."

Santana knew exactly what she meant and it scared her. She learned she may have a chance to be with Brittany the way she wants to, but there's no way it can happen. Her reputation was very important and Santana knew that once she told everyone her true feelings, she would be treated differently and talked about behind her back. Santana decided to act like she didn't know in hopes that maybe Brittany meant something else. If she really did mean what she just said, Santana knew that she was in for trouble. She cleared her throat.

"Uh, you're by what Britt?"

"No, Santana. I'm bisexual. I like girls too. In fact, there is a specific girl I like and it's been right under my nose the whole time."

Santana felt a lump form in her throat. How does she respond to that?


	5. Mike and Santana Sitting in a Tree?

**A/N: Sorry for anyone who wants them to get together right away. That wouldn't be any fun to write about! I know I just updated less than 24 hours ago but I decided to keep writing and got a new chapter out pretty quickly. Like I said last chapter, I will definitely take suggestions into consideration. And if you're looking for the glee club to be in more than brief little moments, it's coming up. Like this chapter to be exact! Oh did you like the brief LT moment? I may write him more into the story. Thanks for reading y'all!**

* * *

Santana decided to do what Santana does best: run away. She left Brittany just standing in the middle of the room. Santana didn't know where to go but she just ran as quickly as she could. She found herself running to her abuela's house. Santana knew it was late but it was very likely that her abuela was still awake. She knocked on the door and within moments, it opened.

"Santanita, what are you doing here? It's late."

"Abuela, can I come in?"

"Of course Santana, of course."

Both women went to sit down at the table in the kitchen. Her abuela, Alma, stared at Santana noticing the tears that had streaked Santana's face. Alma tried to get Santana to talk without saying it. Santana sighed because she knew she would have to say something eventually.

"Abuela?"

"Si Santana."

"How do you know if you like someone? Like more than a friend?"

"Wanting to spend all of your time with someone is a big part. When you're with them, you just want to be with them and have nothing else distract you."

"What if this person is your best friend? Is it possible that you just feel that way because you've been friends for a long time?"

"I don't think so Santana. Love has a weird way of presenting itself sometimes. If you're lucky enough to find it, take it. It'll only come around once."

Santana hugged Alma tightly. Alma was confused by what Santana said. She had no idea who she was talking about but didn't want to pry. Alma knew that Santana is a sensitive girl and didn't want to upset her more than she could already tell she was. Santana let go.

"Gracias Abuela. I really needed someone to talk to."

"De nada Santana. If you ever need anything, I'll be here."

Santana got up and left Alma's house. After she knew that her abuela wasn't watching her, Santana sat down on the steps in front of Alma's house, put her face in her hands and cried. She really messed things up. _"There's no way I can be with Brittany. I like her more than a friend, but I can't be with her. What would my family or the people in Glee or the rest of the stupid people in Lima say? I can't handle the talking behind my back. Maybe I should do something to hide this better. I'll find some guy who doesn't totally make me want to cringe when I see him." _Santana started working out a plan in her head as she walked back to her own house. There was no way she could go back to Brittany's tonight. She felt awful, but she knew that she couldn't face Brittany right now. She went inside her house and quickly went upstairs to avoid possibly being confronted by one of her parents. She lay down on her bed and continued to think of how to cover up her secret until she fell asleep.

* * *

_Brittany stood alone in the middle of her room. Santana just left her. Brittany didn't understand. She thought she heard Ashley say that to Santana so why would she run out? Then it clicked. Brittany has known Santana for many years. She realized that whenever Santana is scared, she runs and pulls away. Even though she should have expected Santana to do this, it still hurt. Brittany felt like crying, screaming, hitting, doing anything to get her frustration out and get Santana to come back. Brittany had no idea what to do. Even though Santana is her best friend, she doesn't know how to stop her from being scared. She tries to think about what would be scaring her so badly. _Kurt. _When he came out, he was bullied so badly. But Santana is smart and she can get anyone to stop bullying her just by one look. Why does she have to be so difficult?_

_Brittany started to cry because she didn't want to lose her best friend. Santana means everything to her and Brittany knows she'll be lost without her. Brittany suddenly decided she didn't want to be alone and headed over to Ashley room. She noticed her younger sister was still sleeping. Quietly, she made her way over to the bed. She lifted up the covers and lay down next to Ashley. Brittany wrapped her arm around Ashley and she snuggled into it. _

"_Britt?"_

"_Yeah Ash?"_

"_Everything will be okay."_

_Ashley fell back to sleep right after that, but Brittany couldn't do the same. How did her nine year old little sister get so smart? Brittany took out her phone willing Santana to text or call her, but she received nothing. She got frustrated and forced herself to fall asleep. Not much later, Brittany's parents came home. They noticed that no one was downstairs and that it was really quiet so they went to check on things upstairs. They peaked into Ashley's room seeing the sleeping siblings. Mr. and Mrs. Pierce smiled to each other and made their way to their bedroom._

"_Where's Santana?"_

"_Maybe she went home early Shannon."_

"_I hope nothing's wrong."_

* * *

Brittany woke up before Ashley. She snuck her way out of the bedroom so she didn't wake her sister up. She went downstairs and saw her mother sitting at the counter in the kitchen. Brittany sat down next to her.

"Good morning baby."

"Morning Mom. How was your date with Dad last night?"

"It was great, but that's not what I want to talk about."

Brittany knew this was coming. It isn't that hard to notice that Santana isn't here even though her mom said she could be. She still hoped that her mom wouldn't bring it up.

"What then?"

Shannon gave her a knowing look and that's when Brittany's heart dropped a little. She didn't really want to talk about Santana right now. She wanted to forget her for a little while so she could pretend that her heart didn't hurt when she thought of the fiery Latina.

"Where's Santana?"

"She left."

"Well, that's obvious dear. What happened?"

"Do we really have to talk about this now?"

"Yes, I know you don't want to, but I can tell you need to talk to someone."

Brittany sighed because she knew her mother was right. As upset as Brittany was about what happened, she couldn't not talk about it with her mom. She tells everything to her. Brittany wasn't going to change that.

"Santana was so nice to Ashley yesterday. She took us all out for ice cream and helped Ashley take her bath. I came back upstairs and I didn't mean to listen to their conversation but I couldn't help it. I heard Ashley say that Santana and I love each other more than just friends. And that's when things clicked. I knew Ashley was right and so I decided to say something to Santana when she came back to my room. I didn't say specifically that I like her, but I told her that I liked a girl and it had been under my nose this whole time and then she ran away."

Brittany started sobbing and Shannon pulled her into a hug. Shannon was not surprised that it was finally revealed that the two girls liked each other. She knew that Santana and Brittany were meant for each other. She let Brittany calm down a bit before saying anything.

"Brittany, Santana will come around. She is just scared, she always has been. She may act tough but she is really just afraid of getting hurt. Let Santana figure this out and please be patient with her. It's all you can do."

"Why is she so afraid?"

"The world isn't the nicest place. She was raised with parents that haven't always been there for her. Not everyone can be as caring as our family. I love Santana and nothing will change that, but the rest of the world can't love Santana as unconditionally as we do."

Brittany just nodded her head and started sobbing again.

"Thanks Mom."

* * *

The day went painfully slow for both girls. Brittany spent most of the day with Ashley in an attempt to not think about Santana. She still checked her phone a lot in hopes of Santana sending her any kind of message. Santana spent the day alone, locked in her room. Most of the time she was crying or sleeping. She didn't want to think of Brittany but it was all that filled her mind. _"Why can't I be normal? Why can't I be like Quinn or Mercedes or even Berry? They like boys, why can't I? Why am I stuck like this? Hopefully my plan will work and people won't notice that I'm different. Mike and Tina broke up so he's available. I know they're still in love, but Mike and I can use each other. He can make Tina jealous, and I can well, you know. That reminds me, I should probably text him or something. He can help me get my mind off of things." _Santana pulled out her phone and sent Mike a quick text message.

"Hey Mike, what's up?"

"Santana? You don't normally text me, but I'm playing some video games, why?"

"I was wondering if you want to come over. I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Uh sure. I'll be over in 5."

Santana realized that she wasn't dressed or anything so she quickly changed clothes. Mike appeared outside her front door not much later. She opened the door after he knocked.

"Hey Mike. Come in."

Mike walked in and sat down on the couch. Santana shut the door and followed him.

"So what did you want to talk about Santana?"

"I have a proposition for you."

"Okay?..."

"You're still in love with Tina, right?"

"I, uh, uh, I…"

"I'll take that as a yes. I know she broke up with you and you want her back. So I'll help you."

"How?"

"We will date. I don't mean really date, but make it look like it. Tina will get insanely jealous and want you back."

"That might just work."

"I know it will. We don't have to really act like we're dating except for in front of anyone in Glee. We can just like hold hands and maybe like a kiss on the cheek. Simple things like that will make her go crazy. I guarantee that you'll have her back by Puck's party next Friday."

Mike suddenly got really cheery. He hugged Santana so tightly that the wind was literally knocked out of her for a few seconds. Suddenly he stopped.

"Wait... what's in it for you?"

Santana was slightly surprised. She wasn't expecting Mike to ask that.

"Uh, nothing important. I just want to help a fellow member of Glee club out."

"I won't pry but I do want you to know that you are nicer than you let other people see."

"Don't tell anybody about that."

They both chuckled. Santana realized that even though she had ulterior motives, she really did want to help Mike out. Glee club was rubbing off on her too much.

"Santana, you are the best. So what do we say to the others?"

"We can say that we were both sitting alone at Breadstix today and you were nice enough to sit by me. Then we hit it off and now we're dating."

"Okay, that sounds believable enough. The Glee club isn't exactly the smartest."

"I know. That's why it'll work."

"Well, thanks for everything Santana. And if you ever need anything, I owe you one."

"I may take you up on that offer sometime."

Mike started to get up and head to the door. He hugged Santana one more time before he opened the door.

"Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow. I'll meet you by your locker or something so it looks real."

"Okay Mike. Bye."

"Bye Santana."

Mike left leaving Santana alone once again. In a way she was happy that Mike agreed because he is a good guy that is still in love with a girl that was stupid enough to break up with him. She wants to help him, which in turn helps herself too. Santana knew this was weird though. She never put anyone before herself besides the Pierces. It felt nice though. Maybe she could become a better person. Santana pushed her thoughts deep back into her head and forced herself to sleep for the rest of the day.

* * *

Brittany did whatever Ashley wanted to do that day. It was the easiest way to ignore the sadness she felt. They mostly watched cartoons, but they also played video games and went outside for a while. Ashley was very grateful that Brittany was doing stuff with her all day. She felt bad though because she could tell that Brittany was sad. Quickly, it was time for Ashley to go to bed. Brittany helped tuck her in and Ashley spoke up.

"Am I the reason that Santana's not here?"

"What? No Sweetie. Santana was just, uh, upset about something and she left."

"Is it because of what I said to her last night?"

Brittany didn't understand at first what Ashley meant, but then it clicked. It wasn't exactly Ashley's fault. What she said spurred on Brittany to start the conversation that caused Santana to run away but it wasn't Ashley's fault. Then Brittany remembered she wasn't supposed to hear what they said because she was creeping on their conversation.

"What did you say Ash?"

"I told Santana that you love her more than just a friend and she loves you more than a friend too."

"What you said is not the reason she is gone, Santana and I are the reasons she left."

"What do you mean Britt Britt?"

"You were right that I love Santana more than just a friend and I think Santana feels the same way about me. So last night after you fell asleep, I told Santana that I like her like that. Santana is very afraid of a lot of things."

"Santana's not afraid of anything!"

"If you ask her that is what she'll say. But she is afraid of two things: people saying bad things about her behind her back and her feelings."

"What do you mean she is afraid of her feelings?"

"Ash, do you see anything wrong with two girls or two boys being together like hugging and kissing like Mom and Dad do?"

"No."

"Good. Don't let anyone ever tell you different."

"Why?"

"There are a lot of people who think that two girls or two boys being together is wrong. Santana doesn't think that, but she's afraid that the people she loves will think that."

"But we love her and we don't think it's wrong."

"I know Ash, but her friends and her biological family mean a lot to her too. She is afraid that they won't accept her true self."

"Will me telling her that I love her help her feel better?"

"I don't think it will change anything, but it may make her feel a little better."

"Can we call her?"

Brittany reluctantly took out her phone. I felt like forever since she heard from Santana. She was afraid what would happen the next time that she saw or spoke to Santana. She dialed Santana's number. For Ashley's sake she hoped Santana would answer. She handed Ashley the phone when it started ringing.

Santana woke up when she heard a buzzing sound. She looked at her phone and saw Brittany was calling. She contemplated on not answering because she wasn't sure if she could handle hearing Brittany's voice. After what happened last night, she realized that Brittany would probably only call her if there was an emergency so she picked it up.

"Britt?"

"No Santana, it's Ashley."

Santana let out a breath she had been holding. No matter how upset she was with everything, she still loved Ashley like she was her actual sister.

"Hey Ash, what's up? Shouldn't you be sleeping by now?"

"I'm in bed right now but I wanted to call you. How come you left without saying goodbye?"

"I'm sorry Ash. I should have said something, but I had to leave."

"Are you mad at me for what I said last night in the bathtub?"

"What? No, of course not."

"Well I just wanted to tell you, that I love you no matter who you like."

Santana felt a tear stream down her face. That was the sweetest thing she had ever heard from the littlest Pierce.

"I love you too Squirt."

"Come over soon Santana. I already miss you!"

"I miss you too Ash."

"I'm supposed to go to sleep now so bye San!"

"Bye Sweetie."

Ashley hung up the phone. Brittany smiled at Ashley.

"When did you become so smart?"

"Since I started to take after you and Santana."

Ashley cuddled into her blanket. Brittany placed a kiss on her forehead and stood up.

"Wait, Britt?"

"Yes Ashley?"

"Can you sleep in here tonight?"

"Of course Ash."

Ashley scooted over a little bit to give Brittany more room. Brittany crawled under the blanket and cuddled with Ashley. They both fell asleep almost instantly.

After the phone call with Ashley, Santana started bawling. It meant so much to her knowing that someone so young approved of Santana being herself. Santana thought that maybe one day she would feel okay with being herself to the whole world. She let her thoughts consume her and put her into a deep sleep.

* * *

Santana woke up early so she could head to the gym and get an early workout before the day started. She changed her clothes, pulled her hair up into a pony and quickly drove off to the gym. She was happy when she got there because she was the only one working out that early. Santana loved coming to the gym early in the morning. She didn't have to worry about fighting with anyone to use a certain machine of anything. It was relaxing to be there by herself. It freed her mind a little bit. Once it was 6:00, she went to the locker room to take a shower. The hot water felt good and it ran down her body. She spent a little extra time in there because it washed away all of her thoughts of Saturday night. After about 30 minutes, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself with a towel. She dried her hair and curled it. Santana went to her locker and put on a V-neck, skinny jeans, and her favorite pair of converse. By the time she was ready, it was 7:15, giving her 15 minutes to get to class. Santana stopped at her locker in the hallway to grab her books for the first couple of classes. She was very happy yet extremely sad that she didn't see Brittany. Even though she didn't want to talk to Brittany because she would bring up what happened on Saturday, she was still Santana's best friend and she wanted to see her. She noticed someone walk up behind her. Santana tensed a little, kind of afraid of hearing what Brittany had to say. It was Mike, however, who tapped her on the shoulder.

"Oh, hey Mike."

"Were you expecting someone else?"

"Well, I thought it was Brittany because I haven't seen her yet."

"Oh sorry to disappoint."

"No, no, you didn't disappoint. I'm actually really glad to see you."

"Is there something going on between you and Brittany?"

"Uh, no, why, why would you ask that?"

"You and Brittany are always together and now you're not. I was just wondering what happened?"

"It's nothing really."

"Well since you're helping me out, I can help you if you want."

"Thanks for the offer Mike. I think I'll pass for now."

Santana saw Tina start coming down the hallway.

"Mike, hold my hand. Tina's coming this way."

Mike quickly grabbed her hand. Santana forced them to lean close together so it looked like they were talking about something intimate. As Tina came close enough to see who Mike was with, Santana laughed loudly and lightly brushed her other hand across his chest to act like she was flirting with him. Tina's eyes just about popped out of her head. How could Mike be with Santana? Mike was hers. Quinn walked up to Tina about to say something, but she looked at what Tina's eyes were looking at. Quinn saw Mike and Santana flirting and holding hands.

"Since when did that happen?"

Tina suddenly realized that someone else was with her.

"What? Oh, uh I don't know."

"They look cute together."

Tina just snarled and walked away. Quinn looked back at the two. She could tell something wasn't quite right, but she didn't question it as she continued to walk down the hallway to her class. Santana and Mike stayed close in case another kid from Glee club came down the hallway.

"Mike, it's totally working. Did you see Tina's face as she practically ran down the hall?"

"Yeah, she looked pretty jealous. This was such a good idea. Thanks Santana."

He pulled her in for a hug. Neither one noticed, but Brittany had been watching them the entire time.

"Since we're sort of together, I'll walk you to class. I mean we have the same one anyways."

Mike smiled as Santana walked with him to class. When Brittany knew for sure that they couldn't see her, she went to her locker which is right next to Santana's. She grabbed her books and headed to the same class as Santana and Mike, knowing that it was going to be a long day. When Brittany walked in, she was sad to find Mike and Santana sitting next to each other. She moped quietly as she sat down next to Quinn instead of her usual spot.

"What is going on today? First I see that Mike and Santana are dating and now you and Santana aren't even sitting next to each other. What the hell is going on Britt?"

Brittany felt a couple tears start to run down her face. Quinn looked over at Brittany and rubbed them away.

"I'm sorry Britt. I didn't mean to make you cry."

Brittany finally calmed down. She was about to tell Quinn what happened when the bell went off. Brittany knew that Mr. Schue didn't even notice when people weren't paying attention so she pulled out some paper and wrote a note to Quinn.

_Santana and I sort of had a fight._

_Obviously Britt. What happened?_

_I told Santana that I like her more than just a friend._

_Finally, but she didn't take it well I see. _

_Yeah. She literally ran away. We were in my bedroom. She was sitting on my bed and after I told her, she just ran out of my bedroom. _

_I'm sorry B. She'll come around. _

_How can she if she's with Mike?_

_Something tells me that she doesn't really like Mike like that._

_Why do you say that?_

_I saw Tina's face when she saw Mike and Santana together. She was furious. I think that for whatever reason Santana is helping Mike get Tina back by making her jealous._

_Why would she help Mike like that?_

_I don't know._

Brittany attempted to focus for the rest of class, but her gaze kept going back to Mike and Santana. The bell went off and they all went to their next class. Brittany was disappointed that in every class she had with Santana, Mike shared it too. That meant that Brittany had to find a new spot for all but one of her classes. Finally, the school day was over. Even though it was exhausting, Brittany loved basketball practice. It caused her to forget everything else and solely focus on one thing. She quickly changed and went to the gym. The rest of the team followed. Basketball practice went pretty well, except Santana wouldn't pass the ball to her. No matter how open she was, Santana would pass to someone else. Practice seemed to go by fairly quickly even though it lasted for three hours. Coach got all of the girls together and said how important it was to stay hydrated and finally said practice was over. The girls started to walk away.

"Santana, wait, can I have a word with you?"

Brittany saw Santana get called back to the coach, but kept walking. She already eavesdropped on Santana one night and that didn't go well. She decided not to do it again.

"Yes Coach?"

"What was wrong with you today?"

"I don't understand Coach."

"You wouldn't pass the ball to Brittany, not once."

"I'm pretty sure I did."

"Don't lie to me. I know you didn't. What's going on? You two are such a great team. When you work together, nothing can stop you."

"I don't know Coach."

"Alright, sit down. Tell me what's bugging you."

They both sat down on the bleachers. Santana didn't know what to say. She didn't know if she should lie because it's easier, or tell someone to get it off her chest. Santana decided the latter.

"Well Coach, there is something that's going on."

"Spit it out Lopez."

"I, uh, I'm gay and I th...think I'm in l...love with Brittany."

Coach had just taken a drink of water and started to choke on it from Santana's words. She had not expected that, but she respected it.

"And what's wrong with that?"

Now it was Santana's turn to be surprised. Santana was so afraid of what people might think if she told them her true feelings. She knew the world was full of hateful people and she didn't think she could handle it.

"People are going to make fun of me. I don't know if I can handle alone what everyone else will say behind my back."

"You aren't alone. You have the basketball team and Glee club. The teachers are here for you to talk to and that silly guidance counselor too."

"I still don't think I'm ready to be out yet."

"I can understand that. Look, if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here for you Santana."

"Thanks Coach."

"Now go hit the showers."

Santana smiled and did so. She went in the locker room. Since it was quiet, Santana knew she was alone. Santana turned on the hot water and took her second shower of the day. She started humming to herself. Not much longer after, she was done and quickly changed clothes and went to the choir room. She was the last one in there. Out of habit, she was about to sit next to Brittany when she remembered that she should probably sit next to Mike. She sat down and smiled at him. Tina was sitting behind them, fuming. Brittany didn't look much happier. Rachel stood up and went to the front of the room.

"Now that Santana is finally here, we can start."

"You didn't have to wait for me Berry."

"This meeting is very important so I thought everyone should be here."

"What's so special about this one?"

Mr. Schue walked in to the room. He went up to the board and wrote "LOVE"

"Everyone, Valentine's Day is coming up soon. This week's assignment is to sing a love song. Whether it is to your secret crush or the one you're obviously in love with, I want to hear it all."

"That's what was so important Berry?"

"Uh yeah. Valentine's Day is a great holiday and this week's assignment should be a lot of fun."

Santana grumbled a little under her breath.

"And since when are you and Mike dating?"

Mike's head perked up and the mention of his name.

"I saw Santana sitting by herself at Breadstix so I sat with her and we hit it off."

Now Quinn knew something was totally wrong. There was no way Santana would have let Mike sit next to her when she was at Breadstix. Quinn figured she would confront Santana about this. After Mike finished talking, Rachel rose her hand.

"Yes Rachel."

"If you don't mind, can Finn and I go first?"

"Of course not."

Rachel and Finn went up to the front of the room and sang Don't Go Breaking My Heart. To Santana, she thought it was sickeningly sweet. She knew that she had to try to get over Brittany so she whispered to Mike about singing a song the next day. He agreed and they planned out everything so they would be ready to go. Santana knew that the next day would go only one way, horribly wrong. She felt awful about what she was doing to Brittany but she wasn't ready for people to know. Santana couldn't let them know. Glee ended early and everyone went home. Santana and Brittany both went to bed thinking of the other.

* * *

The next day went by quickly. Brittany sadly became used to not talking to Santana. It made her upset, but she didn't do anything about it. It didn't take that long until it was time for basketball practice. For Brittany, practice went better. Santana actually passed her the ball. Brittany thought that it was probably because Coach said something to her. Practice ended and they rushed off to Glee rehearsal. Mr. Schue stood in front of the room.

"So who wants to go first today?"

Santana grabbed Mike's hand and pulled them up to the front.

"We'd like to go. I know we've only been together for a short time, but we really like each other. So we prepared a song."

They decided on Take on Me by A-ha. Santana and Mike sang together but it looked like they were both looking at other people. It was very obvious to the others that Mike was still in love with Tina and that Santana has feelings for Brittany, but none of them questioned it. After the last note of the song, Brittany ran out of the choir room crying and Santana chased after her.


	6. Santana Lezpez

**A/N: I am so sorry that I haven't updated in a while. Start of the new semester you know? Hopefully y'all can forgive me. But anyway, I want to thank the new and old followers and the reviewers. This story has gone a lot farther than I originally thought it would. I intended to have them get together a lot quicker, but I kinda like building it up. I'm planning on trying to explain the characters a little more, so y'all are going to have to wait a bit longer for them to have a happily ever after. Do you want me to give more background on just Santana or do you want to see a little more Brittany too? Anyway I hope this chapter may give you guys something to hold on to for now at least.**

* * *

Santana stops outside in the hallway as she looks for a certain blonde haired girl, but no luck.

"Brittany? Britt?"

Santana got no response. Santana hoped Brittany didn't leave the school.

"Britt, where are you?"

Santana knew that there was only one place Brittany would go if she stayed in the school: the auditorium. Santana went to the auditorium as fast as she could. When Santana looked through the doors, she saw a flash of blonde and her heart started racing. Santana quietly made her way to the stage but stopped when she saw Brittany come back out. She ducked into a seat hoping Brittany didn't see her. A song that Santana had never heard before started playing. Brittany started to dance. Dancing was the way she could truly express herself. _"Why did Santana have to sing with Mike? What did I do to her to have her just completely ignore me like she has been? I don't get it. Why do I have to like her?" _Brittany's movements became more emotional. Santana could feel her heart wrench. Brittany danced to get every emotion out. Anger, hurt, disappointment, and sadness all came out. By the end of the song Brittany had tears streaming down her face. She stopped dancing and sat on the middle of the stage floor crying. Slowly, Santana stood up and made her way to Brittany. She didn't like when her best friend was upset and she always tried to make Brittany feel better. Santana got onto the stage and sat across from Brittany. Brittany didn't even bother to look up and just put her face back in her hands as she started to cry even more. Santana placed her hand on Brittany's arm.

"I'm sorry B."

Brittany calmed down enough that she stopped crying. Brittany looked up for the first time. Her eyes were puffy and red from all the crying. Santana moved a strand of hair away that had fallen in front of Brittany's face. She let her hand stay there for a second longer than normal. Brittany could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Santana's heart wasn't much different. Brittany couldn't wait any longer. _"I have to kiss her." _Brittany leaned forward. As much as Santana wanted to pretend she didn't want this to happen, she felt frozen and couldn't move. Deep inside, Santana wanted this just as badly. Brittany slowly moved forward until her lips were inches away from Santana's. Santana felt Brittany's uneasy breath. _"I should leave. We can't do this. I can't do this." _As much as Santana willed her body to move, it stayed still. After what felt like hours to the girls, but was merely moments, Brittany pressed her lips into Santana's. Brittany pulled away slightly. When Santana didn't move, Brittany kissed her again, this time more passionately. As if Santana's body was being awakened just now, she finally kissed Brittany back. Simultaneously, both girls had one exactly same thought, _"Fireworks." _The soft kiss became a more fervent one. It seemed to the both of them that if they stopped kissing, the world would end. Brittany deepened the kiss by running her tongue across the bottom of Santana's lip. Santana instantly parted her lips a little more. Brittany slid her tongue across Santana's, eliciting a small moan from both girls. Suddenly, a loud noise was heard from the back of the auditorium, pulling the girls apart. They looked to the seats, but neither Brittany nor Santana could see anyone. As if Santana's brain finally started to work, she stood up.

"Santana? Where are you going?"

"I'm sorry Brittany. I, I can't do this."

Santana ran off the stage and out of the auditorium leaving Brittany crying on the stage yet again. Santana ran as fast as she could to her car. She hated letting anyone see her cry. On top of it all, it was pouring rain outside. By the time she made it to her car, she was soaking wet and cold. Santana finally let it all out when she was in the safety of her car.

"Why are you so stupid Santana? Why did you let her kiss you? Why did you kiss her back? What's wrong with you? Now Brittany will probably never talk to you again. Why'd you have to go screw things up?"

Santana let her anger get the best of her as she started punching the steering wheel. The car let out a series of honks but it didn't stop her. What did stop her was a knock on the passenger side window.

"Britt?"

The door opened. It was Mike. Santana was disappointed yet relieved that it wasn't Brittany.

"Hey Santana, mind if I come in?"

Santana tried to wipe away some of the tears that were still streaked on her face.

"Uh, no. Come in Mike."

Mike sat down next to Santana.

"What did you want?"

"I really hope I'm not overstepping my boundaries, but I probably am since I'm not good at figuring out that kind of stuff."

"What is it Mike? Just spit it out."

Mike started to shift uneasily.

"I, uh, after you chased after Brittany, I followed you because I didn't want it to look weird since we're sorta dating. I didn't see where you went so I checked around the school. I saw that the auditorium doors were open so I checked in there and I saw you and Brittany kiss."

Santana couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out crying. Mike leaned over and hugged her. Brittany had just started to pass Santana's car on the way to hers as she looked inside and saw Santana hugging Mike. Tears started to appear on Brittany's face as she ran the rest of the way to her car. Once safely inside, felt anger bubble inside of her. It was a weird feeling because Brittany was never angry. _"How could Santana do that to me? One minute we're kissing and the next, she's in Mike's arms. Fine. If Santana doesn't want to be with me, I won't wait around for her." _Brittany drove away leaving Santana and Mike alone in the parking lot. Santana pulled away from Mike so she could talk to him.

"So, you remember how you said that you would help me if I needed something?"

"Yeah of course. What do you need me to do?"

"Well first, I need you to not tell anyone what happened between Brittany and I."

"Okay, can I ask why?"

"Isn't it obvious? This stupid school isn't exactly gay friendly. You saw what happened to Kurt."

"Wait."

Santana realized what she just said. _"Shit. Now he knows I'm gay. I can't lie to him."_

"You're gay?"

Santana felt a lump in her throat. She tried to clear her throat and make it nonchalant.

"Uh, yeah."

Mike placed his hand on Santana's arm causing her to look up to him.

"Look, Santana, I know you think that McKinley isn't okay with people being gay and that may be kind of true. But there are people in this school that don't care who like. They just want you to be you. I want you to know that Glee club will be there for you if you decide you're ready to tell everyone. I won't tell anyone unless you want me to. You just need to know that we are all here for you Santana."

Santana just weakly smiled and nodded to Mike.

"Thanks Mike. I'm glad that the first person I accidentally came out to was you."

He hugged her and smiled. Eventually they pulled away from each other.

"Can I ask one more thing Santana?"

"Uh, sure Mike."

"Are you in love with Brittany?"

Santana definitely wasn't expecting that. She realized, however, she had no reason to lie to Mike since he had been so nice to her.

"I think so. I mean, she was my first kiss and she means so much to me."

Mike smiled at Santana. He thought it was nice to see Santana be so genuine about something.

"I know it's going to be hard, but for you to be truly happy, you have to come out at least to the Glee club. I saw how you ran out of the auditorium after I accidentally tripped over something and fell."

"That was you?"

"Yeah. For being a dancer, you think I'd be more graceful."

Mike and Santana laughed easing the tension that Santana felt build up.

"If you want Brittany, you're going to have to make it up to her. I know you did what you did out of fear, but I think it might be time for you to face your problems."

"You're right Mike. But, how do I tell everyone?"

"I think that's for you to decide. But whatever you do end up doing, I'll be there to back you up all the way."

"Thanks Mike. I'm going to take some time to think about how I want to do this. If I need any help, can I call you?"

"Of course. I mean, we are dating."

"Oh my god. I totally forgot. How's the whole Tina situation working?"

"Tina was beyond mad when I left the room to go follow after you two. I'm pretty sure it's working. Do you mind if we pretend we're dating until Tina says something? I want her to get so jealous, she'll come crawling back to me."

"You sound like the old Santana. I like it. And of course we can. I know I haven't always been the nicest so I'm trying to change that. Since you're helping me, I will help you as much as I can too."

"Thanks so much Santana. And I like the new you. Being nice to people is a great way to start making more friends. The more friends you have, the more people will accept you."

"You're right."

Santana kissed Mike on the cheek.

"What was that for?"

"For being probably the nicest guy I have ever met. I can definitely learn a thing or two from you."

"We can learn from each other. How about this? I'll come over to your house tomorrow after school. I can teach you to be nicer and you can teach me your ways so I know for sure I can get Tina back."

Santana held her hand out and Mike shook it.

"You've got a deal. Do you need a ride home?"

"Uh yeah, if you don't mind. I walked to school today and I kinda don't want to walk home right now."

"It's no problem. Where do you live?"

"Just a couple blocks away."

Santana started up the car and drove away quietly. The only talking was Mike saying turn left or right. Other than that, it was a peacefully quiet ride there. Santana pulled into Mike's driveway.

"Thanks for everything Santana."

"I should be thanking you Mike."

"It's no big deal. I think we're even then."

"You're right. I'll see you tomorrow Mike."

"Bye Santana."

Mike got out of Santana's car and went inside his house after he waved goodbye one more time. Santana drove back to her house and went inside. It was quiet so she knew neither of her parents were home. For that, she was kind of grateful. Santana made some hot chocolate for herself, like her mom used to when she was younger. It was something that always helped clear her head and understand exactly what she had to do. Suddenly, she heard a car pull into the driveway. She looked out the front window and saw it was her mother's car. _"That's weird. She never is here at this time." _Santana went to the front door with her hot chocolate in her hand and opened it for her mother. She had a couple of bags in her hands as she walked closer to Santana.

"Gracias Mija."

"How come you're home so early?"

"Do you not want me here Santana?"

Santana's mother set the bags down on the kitchen table.

"I didn't say that. I was just wondering why you're here this early."

"They let me go home early from work. I stopped at the store and bought some food since we never seem to have any in this house."

"That's because no one's ever home to eat."

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing."

"What is wrong with you Santana? What happened to the girl you used to be?"

Santana felt her anger bubbling up.

"She grew up!"

Santana tried to walk out of the room but her mother grabbed her arm, pulling her back.

"Santana? What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? Everything is wrong. You and papa are never home. I've been growing up on my own ever since you became a lawyer. Don't get me wrong, I love that you are working, but it's not fair that I barely even see you and papa more than once a week. Then I have problems at school. I have to deal with them myself because I can't talk to you."

Santana realizes that she's said a little too much because now her mother is going to ask more questions.

"I really am sorry mija that your father and I are never around. But what's going on at school?"

"Nothing. I shouldn't have said anything."

Santana's mother held Santana by both of her shoulders in hopes to calm her down a bit.

"Santana darling, I know I haven't really been here for you recently, but I'm here now. What's going on with you?"

Santana didn't know what to do. _"Should I tell her?" _Santana's mother interrupted her thoughts.

"Mija, whatever it is, you can tell me."

Santana realized that there is no way she could hide it from her mother anymore.

"Uh, Mami?"

"Si, Santana?"

"I, uh, I'm g...gay."

Santana's mother wrapped her arms around Santana, pulling her into a tight hug. Santana was not expecting that, but warmly accepted the hug. It felt like forever since her mother had hugged her.

"Santana dear, I've known that for a long time."

Santana's mouth dropped open.

"You knew? How?"

"Mija, I've known that you have been in love with Brittany since you first brought her home."

Santana thought back to that day in middle school.

_It was the first day of basketball as a team. The girls had gone through the tryouts to let the coaches know who they wanted on their team. None of them got cut since they had enough teams for all of the girls to play. Santana Lopez was a very cocky young girl. She knew she was good at basketball. It was one of the only things she knew she could beat anyone at. That was until she met Brittany Pierce. Brittany was a new girl to Lima that year. Santana didn't really make any friends on those days of tryouts so she didn't know who Brittany was. Some guy was calling off coaches and who was on that team. Once called, the girls were supposed to walk over to the coach._

"_Santana Lopez, Brittany Pierce, Quinn Fabray"_

_Santana heard her name, a new girl's name and the name of someone she knew. Santana walked over to her new coach but a blonde haired girl caught her attention. Brittany bounced her way over to Santana. She stuck her hand out for Santana to shake it. Santana felt mesmerized by this girl._

"_Hi, I'm Brittany Pierce."_

_Santana finally shook the girl's hand as she realized she was being rude._

"_H...hi Brittany. I'm Santana Lopez."_

_Brittany smiled at Santana and Santana felt something she never had before. Santana just smiled back as the coaches were still talking. Once they were done, Santana started to walk away but something pulled her back. Santana turned around and realized it was Brittany who was grabbing her arm. _

"_Hey Santana?"_

"_Uh, yeah Brittany?"_

"_My parents can't pick me up and I don't exactly remember where I live. Can I go home with you so I can call my parents?"_

_Santana smiled at Brittany. She was so happy to make a new friend._

"_Yeah. But we have to walk. My mom is busy doing something at home. I don't live too far away though."_

"_Okay!"_

_Brittany hugged Santana._

"_We're going to be best friends."_

_She stopped hugging Santana and grabbed her hand. Santana felt her body tingle but she didn't know why. She chose to ignore it. They walked to Santana's house while Brittany talked about how she had been living in New York until her parents moved to Lima the week before. The girls walked inside of Santana's house._

"_Mami, I'm home."_

_Noise could be heard in the kitchen. Not much longer after the sound of a pan falling, Santana's mother came to the door. She saw Santana holding hands with Brittany. At that moment, she knew. She knew her daughter was in love._

"_Hi Santana. Who's your friend here?"_

"_Oh Mami, this is Brittany."_

_Brittany let go of Santana's hand and quickly hugged Santana's mother. She hugged the young girl back._

"_It's nice to meet you Mrs. Lopez."_

"_Oh, please, call me Maribel. Now I don't mind that you brought a friend over, Santana, but it would be nice if you would tell me earlier."_

"_I'm sorry Mami. Brittany just moved here. She doesn't remember where she lives yet and her parents couldn't pick her up. I let her come home with me so she could call her parents. I'm sorry."_

"_It's okay Santana dear. You did a nice thing."_

_Santana smiled brightly._

"_Santana, why don't you and Brittany go upstairs to your room while I call her parents? Brittany, do you remember your parents' phone number?"_

"_I think so." _

_Brittany wrote the number on a piece of paper. The girls ran upstairs. When they got to Santana's room, Brittany's jaw dropped._

"_This is your bedroom?"_

_Santana got a little self-conscious since she didn't know what Brittany meant._

"_Yeah, why? Is there something wrong with it?"_

"_No, not at all. It's so cool!"_

_Santana smiled at Brittany._

"_Thanks."_

"_Are you excited to be on the same team together?"_

_Santana was still looking at Brittany distractedly._

"_For what?"_

"_For basketball silly."_

"_Oh, right. Yeah I am. Are you good?"_

"_I th...think so. What about you?"_

"_My Mami tells me I'm the best!"_

_Santana puffed out her chest a little._

"_So does mine!"_

_Santana knew that there was something special about this girl. She knew that Brittany was right when she said they'd become best friends. Very few people got to be in Santana's house. She didn't even mind that Brittany was in her room. It was nice to have a friend here. Maribel called out to the girls._

"_Santana? Brittany? Can you come down here real quick?"_

_Santana looked at Brittany and they both had the same thought: a race to see who could get there faster. Santana took off but Brittany quickly caught up. They both made it down the stairs as quick as they could. Brittany beat Santana by just a hair and Santana couldn't believe it. _

"_Brittany, I just called your mother and she is on her way and she asked if you would like to go over to their house and spend the night, Santana."_

_Brittany and Santana looked at each other with giddy expressions._

"_Mami, can I?"_

"_Of course dear. I knew you would want to so I already said yes. I called you down here so you would hear me when I tell you to pack some clothes before you go."_

_Santana hugged Maribel tightly._

"_Thank you Mami. Brittany, come with me to get my stuff."_

_Santana grabbed Brittany's hand this time and pulled her upstairs. Maribel watched the two girls. She was happy that Santana is happy for once. Maribel had never seen her daughter quite like that before but she was very glad to. The girls quickly went back up to Santana's room. Santana started looking for stuff to bring to Brittany's._

"_I can't believe you beat me."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Down the stairs. You beat me. No one has ever beat me."_

_Santana stood up to look at Brittany. Brittany had a wicked smile on her face. Quickly, she pushed Santana on to her bed and got on top of her. Santana felt as if someone had knocked all the air out of her body and Brittany felt the same way. Once she regained her breath, Brittany started to wrestle with Santana. Santana put up a good fight, but Brittany was still stronger than her. Finally, Brittany pinned both of Santana's arms above her head._

"_Looks like you might have to get used to losing. I've already beaten you twice."_

_Santana realized she didn't care. Normally, winning was everything, but somehow Brittany changed it. Santana pretended to be upset._

"_I'll win at something. I always do."_

_That is when Santana developed her signature smirk. Brittany felt a weird feeling at the bottom of her stomach. She pushed it to the side and let Santana get up to finish packing her stuff. Brittany started looking around Santana's room. She saw a couple of pictures hanging on Santana's wall. Some of them were of Santana and her mom and what looked like her father. Then Brittany saw a picture of Santana with a girl she vaguely recognized. _

"_Santana? Who is this?"_

_Santana stood up and looked at the picture that Brittany was pointing to._

"_That's Quinn. She's on our basketball team."_

"_I thought I recognized her. I didn't know you two were friends."_

"_Our parents know each other. We're not very close but I've been to her house before."_

_Santana finished getting her stuff together. When she was done, she sat next to Brittany on her bed. Santana smiled at Brittany when Brittany looked at her._

"_You're the first friend that has been here without my Mami forcing me to let them in."_

"_Really? Yay, I'm special!"_

_Brittany hugged Santana tightly. Santana had never been hugged so much by someone who wasn't related to her, but she thought it was nice. Not much later, Santana's mother called the girls downstairs since Brittany's mom was there to pick them up. Brittany carried Santana's bag down the stairs. Santana didn't want her to feel like she had to but Brittany did it for her anyway. The girls ran outside to Brittany's mother's car and sat inside. Shannon quickly said goodbye to Maribel and got into the car._

_"Make sure you buckle up girls."_

_Brittany and Santana giggled as they put on their seatbelts. Shannon would look back occasionally to see the two girls sitting close together giggling the entire ride home. The ride was very short, however, much to Santana and Brittany's chagrin. They pulled into the driveway. _

_"Britt! You only live three blocks away from me!"_

_Both girls squealed. Shannon shook her head with a big grin on her face. She was happy that Brittany finally found a friend like Santana. All of them went inside. A younger girl greeted them. Santana looked confused._

_"Santana, this is my little sister Ashley. Ashley, this is my new friend Santana."_

_Ashley smiled up at Santana. Brittany picked her up._

_"Be careful Brittany."_

_"I am mom. Ashley, can you say hi to Santana?"_

_Ashley had a shy smile on her face._

_"Hi."_

_"Hi Ashley."_

_Ashley got anxious and made Brittany set her down. Ashley grabbed Santana's hand and started pulling her away from Brittany. Santana threw a confused look at her but Brittany was just as confused. She followed where Ashley was taking Santana and realized it was just to Ashley's play room. They got in the room and Ashley made Santana sit at the table she had in there._

_"Santana, can you be in my tea party?"_

_Santana smiled. She never had a young kid like her so much which made her really happy. _

_"Of course Ashley."_

_Brittany sat down next to Santana._

_"Mind if I join Ashley?"_

_"Go ahead. I like having a lot of people in my tea parties."_

_The girls played with Ashley. All of them were constantly laughing and having fun. They spent as much of the rest of the night in Ashley's play room until she was too tired. Santana and Brittany went up to Brittany's room. They talked for awhile until Brittany's mom told them to go to sleep. After Brittany's mom left, Santana looked over to a sleepy Brittany._

_"Britt, I'm glad I met you. We really are going to be best friends."_

_"Going to be? I thought we already were."_

_Santana smiled and nodded her head._

"Wow. You're probably right Mami."

"Probably? I know I'm right. That look you gave Brittany, it's the look I gave your father when I first realized I was in love with him."

Santana really let her mother's words sink in. _"I've been in love with Brittany since we were in the sixth grade, since I met her."_

"I guess love at first sight really does exist."

Maribel pulled Santana into a hug.

"Of course it does mija."

She pulled away from Santana but held her shoulders.

"Baby, I know this is hard for you, but you need to tell Brittany. I know she loves you just as much as you love her. You're not going to be happy until you do."

"Mami, you're right, but I don't think I'm ready to. I love her, but I don't know if I can handle what everyone else is going to say."

"Mija, people are always going to say bad things. That's just how they are. But, Brittany and those people in Glee club, they won't. I can't guarantee that it will be easy, but you're not alone."

Santana felt tears running down her face. Maribel reached over and wiped some of them away.

"Santana, whenever you're ready, I'm here for you. And your father will not have any problems with you being yourself. So when you feel ready, he will accept you with open arms."

"Gracias Mami. It means a lot. Can I be alone now?"

Maribel nodded her head and left the room. Santana started to cry even more when her mother was gone. Once she got her emotions together, Santana came up with a plan. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number quickly. After a couple of rings, the other end answered.

"Hey Santana."

"Mike? Can you help me with something?"

"Anything Santana. What do you need?"

"Come over here and bring as much of the Glee club as you can."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks Mike."

Santana hung up the phone. She realized that she probably had makeup running down her face. Santana fixed it and changed clothes. When she came back downstairs, she still didn't have any messages. It felt like it was taking Mike a long time so she started to pace. Santana felt uneasy with her plan but she knew she had to do it. After maybe another 30 minutes, there was a knock on her door. Santana practically flew to it. When she opened it, various members of the Glee club started walking through. Santana felt happy that Mike didn't bring Brittany. She needed to talk to the rest of the Glee club before she could talk to Brittany. Only a couple of the Glee members didn't show up besides Brittany: Sam and Mercedes. _"That's weird. I know I've had my problems with them before, but I thought that we were kind of friends. Oh well." _Mike and Tina were the last ones to walk through. Mike had his arm around Tina. Santana and Mike smiled at each other knowing that their plan worked. Everyone came in and sat down on the couch and other various furniture in the room. Mike made sure to sit next to Santana. He leaned in to her and started whispering.

"You need anything?"

Santana took a deep breath to try to calm her nerves.

"I think I'll be okay. I talked to my mom and she made me realize that I need to tell everyone that I'm, you know."

"As long as you're ready. If you're having trouble, just remember I'm here for you."

Santana smiled gratefully at Mike. Once everyone was settled, Santana stood up.

"What's up Satan? How come we're all here?"

Santana gave Puck a glare and his smirk quickly disappeared off his face.

"Thanks for the wonderful greeting Puck. Look, I brought you all hear because I have to tell you something."

"What? You really don't have razors in your hair?"

This time Santana threw the closest object to her, a remote, at Puck.

"Ow."

"Puck I was being serious."

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. What is it?"

Santana took another deep breath. _"Am I doing the right thing? What if no one is okay with it besides Mike? Santana, get a hold of yourself. Do this for Brittany." _Santana closed her eyes for a couple of seconds. When she opened them, she saw Mike smiling at her.

"Okay, guys, uh, I'm, I'm gay."

Puck choked on the beer he was drinking.

"Holy shit. I knew it!"

Santana gave Puck the same look which had him cowering slightly in the chair.

"A...are you guys c...cool with that?"

"What? Of course we are Santana. Right guys?"

Everyone all smiled and agreed. Tina looked at Mike and then Santana and smiled. She stood up.

"Group hug."

Reluctantly, Santana let everyone hug her. After a bit, she wormed her way out of it.

"Thanks guys. It means so much. But that's not the only reason I brought you guys here, I want you to help me with something."

"Anything, Lezpez."

"Fabgay, no name calling please."

Santana was surprised that Puck spoke up and so was Quinn.

"Thanks Puck. Okay, so I might as well tell you guys, but I'm in love with Brittany. I made her pretty mad though, and now I don't think she'll talk to me. I really want you guys to help me win her over. I want to sing to her in Glee but I need help."

Mike stood up and went to her side.

"Of course we'll help Santana."

For a long time, everyone started helping Santana. Eventually, everyone had to go home. When they all left, Santana leaned against the door.

"I think this may just work."


	7. Flawless Plan, Right?

**A/N: Hey everyone! I just want to remind y'all to keep reviewing if you can! Anyways, yay! Santana finally accepted herself! Thanks for reviewing everyone! For anyone looking for more Pierce family interaction, I'm most likely going to have it in this one. And for those of who want some more basketball, that won't be for like another chapter or two. By the way, a big moment is coming up for the ladies. It will be in the next chapter. And sorry for the delay. I just got a new computer so the plus is that I should be uploading quicker. Anyway, happy reading!**

* * *

_Brittany heard a knock on her door. She wiped away her tears and opened it. _

_"Hey Britt. We're here."_

_"Thanks for coming."_

_Sam and Mercedes walked inside Brittany's house and sat down in the living room. _

_"What do you need Britt?"_

_"Uh, I know this is going to sound really weird but I need to date Sam."_

_Mercedes stood up angrily. _

_"Hell to the no! Girl, what are you thinking?"_

_"Wait, Mercedes, I'm sorry. Sit down. Please let me explain."_

_Mercedes huffed and eventually gave in sitting back down closely to Sam._

_"I should have probably explained it better. What I meant was I need it to look like I'm dating Sam."_

_Sam finally spoke up._

_"Why?"_

_"I want to make Santana jealous."_

_Mercedes and Sam looked at each other both kind of confused._

_"Why do you want to make Santana jealous?"_

_Brittany sat down again. Tears threatened to fall down her face. The couple noticed this and both went to her to console her._

_"What is it Britt? Why are you so upset?"_

_A couple tears streaked down her face. She looked up and opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. Mercedes started to feel bad._

_"Britt, don't cry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you."_

_Brittany shook her head._

_"That's not it Mercedes."_

_"Then what is it?"_

_"I, uh, I'm in l...love with Santana."_

_Sam laughed a little bit because he didn't believe it. Mercedes saw that Brittany was being serious and hit Sam on the arm. He rubbed his arm on the spot that Mercedes hit. _

_"Oh B, come here."_

_Mercedes pulled Brittany into a hug. Brittany started crying even more. After a couple minutes, Brittany pulled away a bit._

_"So will you help me? I want to make Santana jealous so she'll stop dating Mike and date me."_

_Mercedes and Sam looked at each other. Sam shrugged his shoulders._

_"I'll let you act like you're dating Sam as long as you don't kiss."_

_Brittany kissed Mercedes on the cheek._

_"Thank you so much! You two are the best."_

_"Can I ask B, why you asked me and not any of the other guys?"_

_"Because Mike is dating Santana, Kurt's gay, Rachel is too insecure to let me fake date Finn, and Puck isn't someone you date unless you're Quinn. I knew Mercedes would be cool with what I'm doing because she's nice and is way more understanding than the other girls. Plus you're the only guy I haven't been with so it makes sense."_

_Mercedes gave a disapproving look at the last sentence._

_"I'm sorry. I don't always think about what I'm saying ahead of time. I would never actually date Sam."_

_Brittany turned to a slightly hurt Sam._

_"Sorry Sam."_

_Then she turned back to Mercedes. _

_"I mean I know you two are meant for each other and I would never ruin that."_

_Mercedes smiled at Brittany finally understanding what Brittany meant._

_"I said it's fine. Don't worry about it. I won't be jealous or anything. I don't want to ruin it for you."_

_"Actually, can you pretend to be? If it's okay, I want it to look more real."_

_"Yeah. Whatever you need Britt."_

_"If I know Santana the way I think I do, she will get jealous very quickly. I'm pretty sure, after about a week, she won't be able to handle it anymore. Can I borrow you Sam for two weeks? That's all I'll need?"_

_Sam knew this was really weird but he understood the blonde's thinking. He looked at Mercedes because he wanted to make sure that he didn't do anything stupid. Mercedes just smiled at him._

_"Sure Britt."_

_Brittany smiled like crazy and pulled them both into a hug._

_"Thank you so much guys."_

_"Anything for a fellow Glee club member."_

_"What is your plan B?"_

_Brittany pulled away from the both of them and started to tell the couple. Finally when Brittany was done, Mercedes spoke up._

_"You know B, that plan is really good. When did you become so smart?"_

_Brittany just smiled and shrugged her shoulders. She knew that this plan was foolproof. Nothing would stop her._

_"Well Britt, Sam and I have to go. We'll see you tomorrow."_

_"Bye Britt."_

_"Bye guys. I'll see you tomorrow at 7:15. That's when Santana always goes to her locker."_

_The couple nodded and left Brittany's house. Brittany heard her mother's phone ring from the other room. Her mother quickly answered it but she was too quiet for Brittany to hear. She leaned against the door._

_"This just might work."_

After spending so many years together, the girls act in the same way as each other.

* * *

The next morning, Brittany woke up early to make sure she was dressing to impress. Brittany took a quick shower. She looked in the mirror after she was done putting on her clothes and makeup. _"This will definitely get Santana's attention. There's no way she'll be able to say no to me if I dress like this for two weeks straight." _Brittany grabbed her basketball bag and backpack before leaving the house with her mom and her sister. Shannon pulled up to McKinley.

"Bye Sweetheart. See you later. What time will you be home tonight?"

"7? I have Glee and basketball tonight."

"Alright Sweetie."

Brittany waved goodbye and walked in to school. It was only 7:00 so Brittany took her time to get to her locker. Eventually she put her bags in her locker and took out her books. She saw Sam and Mercedes approach her.

"Are you ready for this Britt?"

"Hold on. She's not here yet. There's still one more minute."

And just as Brittany planned, she saw Santana turn the corner right on time.

"Okay go."

Sam and Mercedes pretended to get really angry at each other.

"Why are you yelling at me?"

"Sam, are you kidding me? You cheated on me with Brittany!"

Santana stopped when she heard Mercedes say Brittany's name.

"How did you find out?"

"So you did cheat on me with Brittany?"

Santana's mouth dropped open. _"What? Brittany would never make anyone cheat. Plus, I thought she liked me? What is going on?"_

"I didn't mean for it to happen."

Mercedes slapped Sam in the face.

"You can find a new seat in Glee club."

Mercedes walked away from Sam. Santana started following after Mercedes. She didn't even notice Brittany go to Sam. _"Maybe that's why Mercedes and Sam didn't show up last night." _Santana found Mercedes in the choir room. She walked in and shut the door.

"Hey Wheezy. I heard what happened. You alright?"

Mercedes hadn't expected Santana to follow her. Santana sat on a chair next to her.

"Uh, yeah. I'll be alright."

Santana placed her hand on Mercedes' shoulder.

"I know we haven't really been close, but I thought I'd let you know I'm here for you. I can't guarantee there won't be any jokes, but I'm here."

Mercedes smiled and pulled Santana in for a hug. She felt bad for lying to Santana after seeing her be so nice, but she already promised Brittany.

"Thanks Santana. It surprises me that you're the one in here, but that's really awesome. I totally appreciate it."

Santana pulled away and smiled at her.

"I know Brittany. Something seems off about her and Sam. She wouldn't let anyone cheat. I think you should talk to Sam. It was probably just a mix up."

Santana stood up as the warning bell went off.

"Got to go. Mr. Schue hates when I'm late."

Santana walked out of the room leaving a confused Mercedes. She had no idea how to tell Brittany that her plan wasn't working. Mercedes decided to walk to class which was the same one that Santana had. She sat down and waited for Brittany to walk in so she could tell her. Her plan changed, however, when Santana's mouth dropped open as Brittany walked in the room. Brittany was wearing a tank top and short shorts that left little to the imagination. She strode in confidently until she realized that the only open spot was next to Santana. Brittany sat down next to Santana without a word. Mr. Schue started class but neither girl paid attention. Santana was staring at Brittany and Brittany was staring at the front of the room trying to figure out what to do. Finally, Brittany wrote a note to Santana.

_"You're staring."_

Santana finally snapped out of her daze.

_"No I wasn't."_

_"Yeah you were. You can't look me in the eyes and say you weren't."_

Brittany turned to look at Santana. Santana opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. Santana just found herself gazing into Brittany's eyes. Brittany and Santana both felt the spark between the two of them. Brittany looked away first to write another note.

_"See? You totally were."_

_"And what would happen if I admitted I was?"_

_"I would kiss you, right here, in front of everyone."_

Santana felt a jolt in her stomach when she read Brittany's words. It didn't last long, however, as Mr. Schue pulled the piece of paper out of her hands.

"Santana. Brittany. Stop passing notes and pay attention."

Mr. Schuester started walking to the front of the classroom.

"Now I'm going to read this note out loud to teach all of you to pay attention in my class."

Brittany felt her cheeks turn bright red. Santana's did the same, but for a different reason: anger. Brittany knew Santana was going to be mad so she put her hand on Santana's arm. Santana smiled briefly as a thank you to Brittany and quickly ran up to the front of the room. Since Mr. Schuester isn't very fast, Santana quickly pulled the note away from him. She ran over to the garbage can and ripped it up before he could get it back.

"Santana? What are you doing?"

"Sorry Mr. Schue. That note was like, really private. Britts and I didn't want you to read it out loud."

"Then you shouldn't be taking notes during class. I hate to do this but you and Brittany now have detention."

Brittany frowned. She had never had detention before. Santana sat down as Mercedes spoke up.

"Oh come on Mr. Schue. They weren't harming anyone. You don't have to be so harsh."

"You have detention too now Mercedes."

Puck flew out of his seat.

"Come on Mr. Schuester! This is bull!"

"Puck, you can join us too now."

Santana turned around because Mike was whispering something.

"What crawled up his butt today?"

Tina and Santana snickered.

"Tina? Mike? You want to join them too?"

"Uh, no sir."

Mike saluted Mr. Schuester causing everyone to laugh a little. Luckily for everyone, the bell rang before he could do anything else. Everyone started to walk out of the room except Santana saw Mercedes pull Brittany back. She didn't want to snoop so she just went to her locker.

"Britt, I don't know if your plan is going to work. Santana doesn't think that you would let anyone cheat on someone else."

"That may be true, but since you and Sam are "broken up" now, I can pretend to date him. Santana would believe that. And did you see her look at me when I walked in and sat down next to her?"

"Yeah. She was practically drooling."

"Good. I think the combination of me dressing like this and dating Sam, she'll become so jealous that she won't let anything stop us from being together."

Mercedes nodded her head in agreement. She double checked to make sure Mr. Schuester wasn't in the room.

"What was in that note?"

Mercedes saw Brittany's face turn really red.

"Uh, well, I told her she was staring at me, but she wouldn't admit it. Then she asked what would happen if she did and I told her I would kiss her in front of everyone."

Mercedes chuckled a little bit.

"You're way more straightforward than I thought B."

"I didn't know I had it in me, but it's definitely working on Santana."

"For your sake, I hope so."

"Hey Mercedes, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"How many times did you and Sam kiss before you started dating?"

"What do you mean? Sam and I didn't kiss until after he asked me out."

"Oh, uh, never mind."

Mercedes put her hand on Brittany's shoulder.

"You can tell me B."

Brittany took a deep breath.

"Santana and I have kissed three times."

"Three?! When? Why don't I know about this?"

"Well I don't think the first two really count."

"When did they happen?"

"The first time happened in the summer after 8th grade."

"8th grade! Why?"

"Santana and I hadn't had a first kiss so we kinda just had our first kiss together."

"That's really sweet. When did the next one happen?"

"I really don't know how no one from the Glee club noticed it but it happened at the last game."

"I do remember someone saying that you two kissed now that I think about it, but I didn't believe them."

"Well after we realized we won, both of our reactions were to kiss each other. It was literally like a second long. I tried to get Santana to talk about it but she said that we were just both caught up in the excitement of the game."

"That doesn't surprise me. And the third one meant something? Wait, the game was just on Friday. You kissed her after that?"

Brittany started blushing as she thought about the kiss.

"Yeah. You remember the day I ran out of the choir room?"

"Yeah."

"Well I couldn't handle Santana singing with Mike so I left. I ran to the auditorium because when I'm that upset, dancing is the only thing that can help me sort through my emotions. So I was on the stage dancing until I just kind of collapsed crying. Then Santana came out of nowhere and sat down by me. I didn't even look at her and I started to cry more. Eventually I stopped crying. She brushed a strand of hair out of my face and then I kissed her. I never felt like that with anyone. It felt like…"

Mercedes interrupted her.

"Fireworks?"

"Yeah. Is that how it is with you and Sam?"

"Fireworks."

The bell went off to signify that everyone has a minute to get to class.

"Sorry B. We should probably get going."

"You're right Mercedes. Let's go."

Brittany wrapped her arm around Mercedes' and they walked to their next class they had together. The girls made it in the room just as the bell went off. Brittany sat next to Santana since Mercedes took the only other open seat. Normally Brittany would be happy but after Spanish, she doesn't know what to say Santana or what Santana will do. Santana took out a piece of paper, looked at Brittany and started writing. "_For once I wish a teacher would care that Santana and I pass notes. I have no idea what she's going to say. What am I going to do?" _Santana stopped writing and passed the paper to Brittany. Reluctantly, Brittany looked down at the paper.

"_We need to talk."_

Brittany felt her heart stop. Those four words could have so much meaning. Brittany felt herself writing back before she could stop it.

"_About what San?"_

Santana wrote her response quickly and handed it back.

"_Not here. Can we talk after basketball and glee?"_

Brittany started to get worried that something was really wrong.

"_Uh sure. Why does this sound so serious?"_

"_Don't worry about it. I just didn't want to talk to you about through paper."_

Brittany looked at Santana and nodded her head. Santana and Brittany didn't pass anymore notes in class. Brittany tried to pay attention to what the teacher was saying but she couldn't focus with a certain Latina next to her distracting her. She thought for sure that Santana was staring at her, but every time Brittany would turn her head to check, Santana turned away just in time so Brittany couldn't prove it. The bell went off. Since it was the end of the day the girls went to their lockers to drop off their books. Brittany and Santana walked together, both feeling the awkwardness in between them. They ignored it, however, and opened their lockers. Neither of them saw Puck approach behind them. He stood there waiting for them to turn around so he could scare them. As the girls shut their lockers and turned around, Puck yelled.

"Boo!"

Both of the girls squealed in fear as Puck almost fell to the ground laughing so hard. Santana smacked Puck on the back of his head. Puck looked up and rubbed it.

"Ow."

"You're such an ass Puck."

"You know you love me. Anyway, Santana, when are we doing that _thing?_"

Santana grabbed Puck by the ear. He whimpered as she dragged him down the hall and away from Brittany. Begrudgingly, she let go of his ear.

"First off, don't mention _that _in front of Brittany again. I specifically didn't tell her for a reason and I don't want you to ruin it. Look, I'm thinking of doing it during halftime of the big game on Friday. Now, if you excuse me, I have to go back and do damage control thanks to you."

Santana shut Puck a glare as he just smiled his cocky smile.

"Okay. Do you need any help with anything else?"

"I think I'll be fine. Any more _help_ from you will probably end up badly."

Puck had a hurt expression as Santana walked away. To Santana's chagrin, Brittany was still standing at their lockers. Brittany had been facing away from her so Santana tapped her finger on Brittany's shoulder. Brittany turned around with an unreadable expression on her face. It quickly changed into a smile as she realized it was Santana.

"Sorry about that B."

"What did Puck want?"

"He was just helping me with something for glee."

Santana felt bad that she was lying to Brittany. "_Well at least it's kinda true." _Brittany could tell that Santana wasn't telling the truth, but she didn't press it. Instead she held her pinky out.

"Ready for practice?"

"Of course."

Santana put her own pinky into Brittany's. Both girls felt the jolt that touching the other created. They walked to the locker room. Just like their other lockers, they were right next to each other. After the runin with Puck, they were running a little late. Quickly, they got changed into their practice clothes, but not without Santana staring at Brittany again. They ran into the gym just in time for practice to start. All of the girls were in a circle around the coach.

"It's nice of you to join us ladies. Now that everyone is here I can get started. So, Friday is the game that tells us if we go to the state championship. I am so proud of you ladies for getting this far."

Everyone started to clap and cheer. The coach quieted all of the girls.

"This team is so strong when we work together. I just wanted to let y'all know that together, we were able to get to this point despite being considered underdogs. I want to make sure that these last two practices we continue to work together so that on Friday we are unstoppable. Is everyone with me?!"

"YEAH!"

After the speech, Santana piped in something as the captain.

"WHO ARE WE?"

"THE TITANS!"

"I SAID, WHO ARE WE?"

"THE TITANS!"

Santana put her hand in the middle. Brittany was the next one to go as she put her hand directly on top of Santana's as she looked into her eyes. Everyone followed suit after their brief moment.

"1, 2, 3 TITANS!"

They all lifted their hands up as their chant filled the gym.

"Okay ladies, let's have a great practice today."

The girls broke apart to start practice. With the excitement of the big game, energy was higher than ever before. Drills went perfectly, more shots were made. Quickly, they approached the last drill. All of the girls were paired against someone of similar skill and were to go one on one against each other. Brittany and Santana ended up getting paired against each other. Brittany got cocky. She knew Santana had been slightly distracted by her all day today. The girls went to their hoop as Brittany gave Santana the ball. Santana gave her a confused look.

"I'm letting you start because I thought I'd give you a chance to win even though it won't happen."

Santana felt her competitive side coming out.

"For your information, I've beaten you every time and today won't be different Pierce."

Brittany just smirked. Coach yelled out to all the girls.

"Keep your own score ladies. I'll let you know when time is up. Whoever loses is running quarters."

The girls either became either sad that they might have to run or excited because they wanted to win. Santana and Brittany seemed to be unaffected as they were in their own world. Brittany gave Santana a look that made her shudder.

"You're going down Lopez."

Coach blew the whistle and the girls started their games. As Santana and Brittany were playing, they were constantly going back and forth making shots. Neither gave up something easily but they both knew each other's weaknesses. Santana started to get ahead of Brittany. Brittany really wanted to win so she kind of started to mess with Santana. Every time Santana would try to get close to the basket, Brittany would make her post up. She used it as an excuse to get very close to Santana. When Santana would get close, Brittany would lightly grab Santana's hip. Then she would press her lips to Santana's ears and whisper things. Each time, it would progress to something dirtier. She knew she was getting to Santana because she felt Santana shudder every time she touched her. Brittany felt cocky and took it even farther.

"Where else do you want these lips?"

Brittany grabbed Santana's hips tightly and pressed herself against Santana. An audible moan escaped Santana's lips. Brittany smirked at the effect she was having on Santana. Santana shook her head as she finally snapped out of it. She realized Brittany wasn't paying attention and took a shot easily making it. Brittany didn't realize what happened until she saw Santana smirking back at her as she gave her the ball.

"Maybe you should stop worrying about distracting me and start paying attention."

Brittany took the ball chuckling a little bit. She knew she was going to lose against Santana but she wasn't going to go down without a fight.

"You're right."

Brittany focused as much as she could. She got caught up with Santana. By this time, both girls were sweating like crazy. They knew there wasn't much time left. Santana got ahead by two points. Brittany saw coach put the whistle into her mouth. She knew it was about to end the game. Brittany took one last shot. Santana and Brittany both looked at the ball as the whistle went off. Much to Brittany's dismay, the ball bounced around the rim, but bounced out. She felt kind of sad that it didn't make it but she was proud of herself that she did so well against Santana.

"Alright girls. Game over. Whoever lost is on the line."

Brittany started to walk to the line but surprisingly Santana followed her.

"Santana, what are you doing?"

"That was a good game. I think you should have won. So since coach is going to make at least one of us run, I figure we both can."

"That's actually really sweet Santana."

Coach walked over to all the girls on the line.

"Santana, Brittany? Why are you both on the line? Who won?"

"San…"

"It was a tie Coach. We're both going to run."

Coach just nodded her head. Brittany bent down to tie her shoe and so did Santana.

"Why did you do that?"

"Because we did tie."

Santana stood up ready to run. Brittany followed her lead as they waited for coach to blow the whistle. When it went off, the girls sprinted as fast as they could. Brittany and Santana kept looking at each other trying to be faster than the other. They were way ahead from the other girls. Both pulled ahead of the other at some point. In record time, they finished. Brittany won just by a hair. They stopped completely out of breath. Brittany and Santana clapped as the other girls finished to cheer them on. All of them finished running and circled up like they did at the beginning of practice.

"Great energy today girls. That was such a good way to end practice today. Keep it up for tomorrow. Now, hit the showers. You girls need it."

The team laughed as they started to walk towards the locker room.

"Santana? Brittany? Can you stay back a minute?"

Santana and Brittany went back to the coach.

"Yeah Coach? What's up?"

"I want to thank you girls. You set such a good example today. Your energy was there throughout all of practice and it was tripled when you were on the line."

"We really wanted to make sure that the team is prepared for Friday."

"Well whatever the reason, thank you. Can you bring it tomorrow?"

"Always Coach."

The girls walked back to the locker room. When they got in the locker room, it was empty. Both girls quickly took their showers and got dressed so they could go to Glee practice. Santana and Brittany didn't talk since they wanted to make sure that they got to practice on time. Both made their way to the choir room in record time. When they got in the room, some of their fellow Glee members weren't even in there. Thankful that they had a little extra time, Santana pulled Mike to the side. She didn't fail to notice the sad look on Brittany's face. Santana threw an apologetic look to her which Brittany seemed to accept. She looked back at Mike.

"Sorry. I kinda wanted to talk to someone about what happened at my house that wasn't Puck. I know he wants to help, but he's an idiot."

"It's no problem Santana. What's up?"

"Well I decided that I want it to happen during halftime on Friday. Do you think you can have everyone ready with the dancing by then?"

"It's a little short notice. I can manage it, but I can't make any promises about Finn."

"That doesn't surprise me. Finnosense isn't so great on his feet. Now, I'm going to talk to Berry and see if she has the vocals covered. Thanks Mike!"

Santana hugged Mike.

"You are in a really good mood. I'm going to remember this moment forever. Santana hugging someone that's not Brittany in the open, I'm shocked."

Santana playfully punched Mike and walked away. She smiled as she passed Brittany and went to Rachel.

"Berry, can I talk to you?"

Rachel nodded her head and walked with Santana to a spot in the choir room that no one else was in.

"What do you need Santana?"

"I was wondering if you can have everyone prepared with the vocals by Friday during halftime of the game."

Rachel's eyes grew wide with surprise.

"Friday?!"

"Woah Berry, keep it down. Puck already almost ruined everything today. I don't need to risk that with you too."

"Sorry, but you do realize that Friday is a bit soon right?"

"Well, we did a lot the last couple of days. I think it can be done. If anyone can do it, you can."

"How sweet of you Santana. Looks like we found the one who makes you a softie."

Santana scoffs at Rachel.

"Tell that to anyone and I will ends you. Anyway, can it be done?"

"I'll find a way."

"Thanks Berry."

Santana finally went to sit back down by Brittany. Brittany was about to say something but Mr. Schuester walked in the room.

"Alright, sit down everyone. I don't really have anything planned today except for the rest of the Valentine's day performances. Who wants to go? Today is the last chance to get up there."

"I'd like to go Mr. Schue."

Brittany stood up.

"I'm a little surprised but go ahead Brittany."

Brittany smiled as Sam stood up and went to the front of the room as well. Her smile faltered as she looked Santana. She seemed so confused and she was. "_Why is she up there with Sam? Is what Mercedes and Sam fighting about earlier true? No. It can't be. Brittany wouldn't let Sam cheat on Mercedes with her. This can't be happening."_

Brittany leaned in to Sam as he grabbed his guitar.

"Is this a good idea? Look at her."

Sam turned his attention to a fuming Santana.

"I have no idea. You can tell she's jealous so I guess that's a plus. Do you still want to go through with this?"

Brittany thought about it for a few seconds. "_Santana looks really jealous. That's a good sign, right? If I don't sing with Sam, she'll be happy, but she won't confront her feelings about me. She has to like me since she's kissed me and how she was looking at me today, right? If I sing with him, maybe she will do something about it. I know she's really sensitive so I don't want to push her."_

Sam nudged Brittany on the arm.

"Are we doing this?"

Brittany took a deep breath.

"Yes. I think it will be worth it."

Seeming to go unnoticed by everyone else besides Brittany, Sam mouthed the words "_sorry babe" _to Mercedes. Mercedes nodded her head to say it was fine. She knew someone had to finally get those girls together. It had been too damn long. Brittany smiled at how sweet Sam and Mercedes were. She hoped that one day that she could have such a relationship with Santana. The chords of Sam's guitar filled the room. He started with the words from My Girl. At first he looked at Brittany to try to make it look real, but he couldn't stop himself from singing to Mercedes. Brittany seemed to struggle with the same thing. By the time she sang the song's title, she was staring at Santana. As much as Santana wanted to run away, she felt as if the song wasn't meant to be a love song between Sam and Brittany. Brittany started to dance around. Santana managed to pull her gaze away from Brittany for a few moments to look at Sam. She noticed then that neither of them had been singing to the other blonde. Santana suddenly felt all of her rage deflate from her body. Sam was still oddly in love with Mercedes and Brittany seemed to be singing to Santana. "_She's singing to me. Me!" _Brittany and Sam finished the last notes in harmony. The rest of the club by that point had noticed that Sam and Brittany were not singing to each other. Everyone knew that Santana and Brittany were madly in love and it was just a matter of time before they finally were together. Aside from Sam, Mercedes and of course Brittany, everyone else was fully aware of Santana's plan for the game on Friday. They knew that the plan was undeniably going to work and they were happy that maybe Santana would actually be in a good mood for once. The song came to an end and everyone clapped. After Brittany and Sam took their spots, Mr. Schue stood in front of everyone.

"Brittany and Sam, that was great. Anyone else want to go?"

No one raised their hand or stood up.

"No? Alright. Well, then have fun this weekend. I'm cancelling glee practice tomorrow so Santana and Brittany can solely focus on basketball. Make McKinley proud girls."

Brittany and Santana beamed at him because they were really excited about Friday.

"Thanks Mr. Schue."

Everyone stood up. Brittany noticed Santana was actually staying to talk to everyone so she left. Santana was sad that she couldn't go with Brittany but she needed to make sure that everything was set up for Friday. She noticed Mike, Tina, and Blaine leaving.

"Guys, wait."

Everyone stopped, slightly afraid Santana might go on a rant. To their chagrin, she didn't.

"Can everyone stick around for a bit? Even if its just a few minutes."

Santana normally didn't beg, but she kind of was then. She wanted to make sure everything went right. Everyone sat down, slightly intrigued by the different Santana present in front of them. Santana felt nervous and started to pace around the empty floor. Puck noticed her nerves and ran up to the front to make sure she was okay. After he put a comforting hand on her shoulder, Santana calmed down and felt she could talk again. She didn't realize that Mercedes and Sam were still in the room. If she would have, she might not have talked because they didn't know what was going on.

"Okay, so I want to thank all of you guys for helping me with what's going on Friday."

"Santana actually saying thank you? Has Hell frozen over?"

"It must have to get Satan to cool off."

Santana was steaming at the two who had spoken up.

"Wheels? Fabgay? Shut it afores I go all Lima Heights on your asses."

Artie and Quinn shut up quickly making Santana happy.

"Thank you. As I was saying before you interrupted me, I wanted to say thank you."

Mercedes and Sam looked really at each other really confused.

"Thanks for what?"

"_Shit. They're still here. Do I tell them? I guess I have to now. Berry can't keep her damn mouth shut. Now that she knows that Mercedes doesn't know what is going on, she will tell her."_

"Just tell her San."

Santana sighed. She didn't like telling everyone about this. "_I guess extra people on Friday won't be so bad."_

"I'm gay."

"Satan, we knew that a long time ago."

"Jesus, did everyone know before me?"

The members of Glee club looked at her incredulously.

"Yes."

Santana shook her head. As much as she wanted to be mad at them, she couldn't. Not anymore.

"Anyway, I want to be with Brittany, but I don't want to just tell her. I want to show her."

"And how is that? You haven't exactly been doing a great job."

Santana shook her head. She already knew that.

"I know. But I think this plan is foolproof."

Mercedes and Sam thought to the plan Brittany had called foolproof. It hadn't exactly turned out that way, but that's because Santana had a plan of her own/ Now that they knew both sides of this. Mercedes and Sam decided to make sure that Brittany didn't come up with another plan and mess things up.

"And what would that be?"

Santana told Mercedes and Sam what was to happen on Friday during halftime. They agreed to helping Santana because they knew Brittany would love it. Eventually everyone was caught up to speed on exactly what was to happen. Rachel and Mike were fully prepared to make everyone else who was struggling to stay after school on Thursday to make sure everything went smoothly. Everyone parted ways. Santana went home and fell asleep right away. She needed to be fully rested for the next couple of days because they were going to be long ones.

_Brittany left the choir room. She heard everyone get suddenly quiet, but didn't stay around long enough to figure out why. She went home quickly because she wanted to talk to her mom and little sister. When she needed to talk about Santana, they were always there for her. Quickly, Brittany pulled up to her driveway and walked inside her house. Her mother seemed to be looking over something, but as she saw Brittany, she quickly dropped it. Shannon gave the girl a big hug as if she knew Brittany was the most confused she'd ever been. After a couple of moments in the embrace, they broke apart and sat at the kitchen table. Shannon waited until Brittany was ready to talk. She felt bad keeping a secret from Brittany, but she wanted her daughter to be happy. For Brittany to be happy, she needed to the surprise to be a surprise. Brittany looked at her mother, searching for the strength to say all of her insecurities. Finally, it all came out in one big fountain of words. _

"_Mom, I sang to Santana today. I mean I was pretending to sing to Sam because I was trying to make her jealous but I ended up singing to her anyway. And Sam wasn't any help since he pretty much just sang to Mercedes. But I sang to her. I know it was probably a bad idea, but I finally did something. I needed to after what happened in the auditorium. And I also did other things to make Santana jealous today. It really worked. I think that something might happen between us soon. But Mom if it doesn't happen soon, I think I might explode. Santana is the love of my life. I don't want to wait. I can't wait anymore."_

_Brittany didn't feel the tear running down her cheek until she felt her mother run her thumb to remove it._

"_Brittany, dear. Settle down. I promise everything will work out soon."_

"_How do you know? It's driving me insane waiting for her."_

"_You love Santana right?"_

"_More than anything."_

"_Then give her a few more days. I promise it will all work out. If you're not happy with your relationship by the end of the weekend, then do something."_

"_What's so special about this weekend?"_

_Shannon paused for a few seconds. She had been hoping that Brittany wouldn't ask. Quickly, she disguised her surprise._

"_I think that you have waited a long time for Santana. She will come around. She has had issues in the past and I think that she might have sorted through them. I just want to give Santana a chance before she feels like she has lost control of everything."_

"_A chance for what?"_

"_I think she needs one last chance to prove that you two belong together. I have a feeling she understands that that's how it should be."_

_Brittany was confused about what her mom was saying but she let it go._

"_Thanks Mom. Are you, Dad and Ashley going to be at the game on Friday?"_

"_Wouldn't miss it for the world Sweetie."_

_Brittany smiled and gave her mother a hug. When they separated, Brittany went upstairs. She noticed Ashley's door was open so she knocked on it._

"_Hey Ash, can I come in?"_

_Ashley smiled and nodded her head. Brittany sat down next to her little sister. _

"_How are ya?"_

"_I'm great Britty!"_

_Ashley knew about Santana's plan for Brittany. Ashley's mother had called her into a room where Brittany couldn't hear them. Once the door was shut, Shannon gave the phone to Ashley. On the other end Santana was talking to her. Most of the time was spent with Santana telling her some things she needed Ashley to do on Friday. She happily agreed and then she let her mother talk to Santana some more. Ashley wanted to tell Brittany so bad about what was going to happen on Friday, but she didn't want to ruin the surprise._

"_How come you're so happy?"_

"_I'm just excited for Friday!"_

"_I can't wait either Ash!"_

_Ashley smiled brightly because she knew that Brittany didn't know what Santana was planning._

"_I hope you guys win!"_

"_Me too. And I better hear you cheering in those stands."_

"_Of course Britty. Can we make signs to cheer for you and Santana?"_

_Brittany stood up and ran out of the room quickly. Ashley had a frown on her face until she saw Brittany come back in with a couple of posters and markers._

"_Already one step of you."_

"_I want to make a sign for Santana."_

"_You don't want to make one for me?"_

"_I do, but I've never made one for Santana before. Can I please make one for Sanny?"_

_Brittany nodded happily. She felt her heart melt a bit at her sister's cuteness._

"_Do you want me to help you? I can't really make a poster for myself."_

_Ashley agreed with Brittany. The two sisters laid on the floor drawing and coloring on the poster. Ashley was giggling to herself most of the time. Brittany wanted to ask if there was something else that she was happy about but she didn't want to ruin her sister's good mood. Brittany thought about how Ashley reminded her of how she used to be when she was younger. After about an hour and a half, both of the posters were drawn and colored. Brittany and Ashley smiled at each other knowing that they did a good job. Not much longer, the girls went downstairs to eat some food before going to sleep early._

The next day went by quickly for Santana and Brittany because they were focused on other things. The big game was fastly approaching. Brittany knew she needed to focus on just basketball if she wanted to be prepared for Friday. Santana knew she should be focusing on the game, but she couldn't help let her mind wander to all of the things that could happen on Friday. "_What happens if she doesn't say yes? I put a lot of thought into this. After everything these past couple of weeks, I don't think I could stand for Brittany saying no. I just hope she says yes." _The final bell for the day went off. All of the glee members except for Brittany met in the choir room. Santana walked in quickly noticing that everyone was already sitting and waiting for her.

"Hey guys. Thanks for coming. So I know that we've went through this a couple of times already but I want to make sure that everything is going to go perfectly tomorrow. So thanks for showing up."

"As rude as you have been for most of our lives Satan, Glee is a family and you're a part of that."

"Thanks Wheezy. But I really have to get going to practice. So Mike you're in charge."

Mike pumped his fist in the air.

"And this really pains me, but so is Berry."

Everyone groaned out loud as Rachel went to the front of the room spouting off a bunch of words that no one could understand.

"Sorry guys. I really need her to make sure everyone is ready with the singing. If she gets too out of line, I give you permission to slushie her Puck."

Rachel looked flushed and upset. Puck had a huge smirk on his face.

"If you guys need anything, you know where to find me."

With that, Santana dashed out of the room and sprinted to the lockers. She changed as quickly as she could. As she put her hair in a ponytail, she sprinted to the gym making it seconds before the coach walked through the door. Practice was intense for everyone. The coach made sure that all of the girls were as fully prepared as they could be for the game. She knew that the chances of them winning were not very likely but she wanted them to give it their all. The coach didn't plan on telling the girls, however, the bad chances they had of winning. Instead she gathered the girls together after the last drill.

"Ladies, tomorrow is the big day. No matter what happens, I will be proud of you ladies as long as you give it your best shot. Whether the score reflects it or not, you are the winners."

The girls all cheered as they went to the locker rooms. Santana stayed back for a few seconds.

"Hey Coach?"

"Yeah?"

"Would it be possible to delay the start of the clock during half time tomorrow?"

"Why would you want to do that?"

"You remember what we talked about a couple of days ago?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, I want to do something big to win Brittany over. It has to be during halftime but I don't want to get in the way of the game."

"I'll make sure it happens."

"Thanks Coach."

Santana ran off to the locker rooms and was thankful that Brittany was still there. Quickly, Santana took a shower and changed clothes and caught up with Brittany. The blonde didn't notice Santana until she tapped her hand on her shoulder. Brittany spun around with a smile spreading across her face when she realized that it was Santana.

"Hey San, what's up?"

"I thought I'd just say hi. I feel like we haven't talked that much this week."

"I know. Ashley misses you."

"I miss all of you Pierces. How about I come over after the game tomorrow and spend the night?"

"I would love that Sanny!"

Brittany pulled Santana into a tight hug. After a noise startling them, the girls pulled away reluctantly.

"I would say I'd come over tonight but we both need some extra sleep for tomorrow. It's the big game B."

"I know. Do you think we will win?"

Santana really wanted them to win but she didn't know for sure.

"I really hope so."

"I think we will. We have you as a captain."

Santana felt blush creep on to her face at the compliment.

"Thanks Britt, but I'm not the only good player on the team. Remember that we wouldn't have won the last game without you?"

Brittany just nodded her head.

"Okay, but I should probably get going. I want to be totally ready for tomorrow."

Brittany hugged Santana one more time before the girls went their separate ways. The two went home to get some much needed rest before the big day.

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**So I promise next chapter will be a great one. The plan will unfold. It'll be time for the big game. There will be moments with Brittany and Santana, the Pierces, and the Glee clubbers. It should be some fun stuff. I haven't worked out all of the details so if you have suggestions, I would appreciate them. Anyway, thanks for reading. PLEASE REVIEW BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE AWESOME! :)**


	8. Romantic Gesture

**A/N: Hey guys! So if you're all caught up on my story, then you know that today is the big day. Yay! Thanks for following along so far. It's been a great ride. I don't know how many chapters I will make this, but I do know that this will not be the last one. Anyway, enjoy the next chapter!**

* * *

The big day was finally here. The internal clock of Santana's body had her up at 4:00 AM, too early for her liking. She tried to go back to sleep, but it just didn't work. She decided to use the time to mentally go over everything that was supposed to happen today. _"If everything goes right, Brittany will be my girlfriend by the end of the night." _Santana was sure that she had run through every possible outcome of her plan. This didn't exactly calm her nerves because not all of them were good. Santana felt she needed to talk to someone to stop the negative thinking. She didn't know what came over her, but Santana decided that giving Rachel Berry a call was a good idea. The phone rang and Santana was actually happy to hear Rachel's voice on the other side of the line.

"Santana? Why are you calling me?"

"Can't a girl call a friend to say hi or something like that?"

"First, I don't mind us being friends but that's the first time you've ever actually said it yourself. Second, its 4:30 in the morning. Granted I don't mind because I woke up early today to rehearse everything. But that means something is up. I'm not who you would normally call and you aren't normally up before 6:00 on a school morning."

"Are you done rambling Rachel?"

"Aw, you called me Rachel. That's so sweet."

"Berry? You done?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry. Please continue. What's wrong?"

"I was kind of having a crisis about today. I was thinking about everything that could possibly happen. The problem is most of it is bad and it will leave someone crying."

"Santana, I promise you that this plan will work. If I were Brittany, I would be swooning after halftime. Your plan is brilliant and oddly enough, you can be kind of charming."

"Rachel Berry just called me charming. I'll have to mark the date on the calender."

"Oh shut up Santana. I'm trying to help you out here."

"Right sorry. I couldn't help myself."

Santana could hear Rachel chuckle.

"Anyway, as I was saying, don't worry about today. Everything will be okay."

"I'm still not entirely convinced."

Rachel was quiet for a little while.

"Are you busy right now?"

Santana was confused now.

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. Are you busy right now?"

"Uh no, I'm not, why?"

"Come over to my house."

Santana coughed in confusion.

"I'm not trying to be rude but why?"

"You seem to be freaking out so I thought you could come over so you don't get caught up in over thinking everything."

Santana contemplated on whether or not she should take up Rachel on her offer. She knew that if she stayed by herself that she would over think it but sometimes Santana can only handle so much of Rachel Berry. Santana was shaken from her thoughts as she heard Rachel cough on the phone.

"Oh sorry Rach. Yeah, I'll come over. I should be there in 15."

"Great. See you soon Santana."

The girls hung up the phone. Santana quickly shoved her books into her backpack. She had already gotten everything that she needed for the game in her gym bag. Santana knew that she wasn't going to go home in between school and the game so she grabbed everything. Once she threw everything into her car, Santana drove straight to Rachel's house. Santana only knocked once before Rachel opened the door. The shorter girl had a huge grin on her face. Santana just shook her head a bit, still amused at how this girl had this much energy at a time like this.

"Hi Santana."

"Hey Rachel."

Rachel stepped aside to let her in.

"Did you eat anything?"

"No."

"Do you want something? Unless it's like a pregame ritual for you not to eat breakfast. Because I know that I have rituals like that for performance days."

"I would love something to eat."

Santana was happy to eat at someone else's house besides hers. There was never any real food so for breakfast she would get stuck with some tasteless poptart. She even would have preferred eating vegan food like Rachel over a poptart.

"I'm going to assume you like pancakes and bacon?"

Santana nodded her head wildly. She loved breakfast food like that. The only times she has a breakfast like that cooked for her is when she's at Brittany's house and her mother makes food for the whole family on Saturday mornings.

"Well, this may or may not disappoint you, but the pancakes are vegan. I've been told by Quinn that they taste just the same so hopefully it won't be a big deal. I can add blueberries or chocolate chips if you want?"

Santana's eyes widened at the offer.

"Can you put in both?"

Rachel looked at Santana with an unreadable expression. She thought it was nice to see Santana this way. She acts so different at school.

"Of course. Blueberry chocolate chip pancakes coming right up."

Santana giggled like a little school girl. Rachel was right that being here would get her mind off of things. Normally she would have practically bit Rachel's head off by now but something changed. I guess Santana was thankful for Rachel helping her so much. Since Santana was in a really good mood, she even helped Rachel with the pancakes and made the bacon too. When everything was done, Rachel pulled out plates for them and they dug into the food quickly.

"Oh my god Rachel, these pancakes are amazing!"

Rachel just smiled and nodded because her mouth was full of food and she thought it was rude to talk with a mouthful. The girls ate in a peaceful quietness until all of the food was gone. Rachel stood up and took their plates to put them in the sink.

"Do you want something to drink Santana?"

"Do you have orange juice?"

Rachel pulled out the bottle and poured both of them a glass. Santana downed hers quickly.

"Seriously Rach, thanks for this. I really did need some way to get my mind off of everything."

Rachel placed her hand on Santana's shoulder comfortingly.

"It's no problem Santana. I don't mind helping a friend out."

"I'm not saying we should hang out a lot, but I wouldn't mind if we did do things outside of school."

"Of course Santana. How about we go to a movie or something on Sunday?"

"Surprisingly, I would actually like that."

"Cool!"

Rachel looked at the clock and realized that they still had over two hours until school started.

"Do you want to go up to my room? School still doesn't start for awhile and we could watch a movie if you want."

"Yeah Rach. That would be nice."

Rachel was happy that Santana was being really nice. It was weird to see but Rachel didn't mind. The girls went up to Rachel's room. As soon as she opened the door, Rachel went straight to the shelf of DVDs she had. Rachel suddenly remembered that she had only musicals with the exception of two or three movies.

"Santana, do you like musicals?"

"I'm in Glee club aren't I?"

"Well Finn doesn't like a lot of musicals and he is the male lead. Plus I have seen you get mad about me performing some of the bigger Broadway hits."

Santana hadn't thought about why she had gotten mad when Rachel was singing before but now the reason was clear. She didn't see a reason not to tell the other girl.

"That's because I'm jealous. You kill all of those songs."

"You're not such a bad singer yourself. Valerie was amazing last year."

Santana smiled proudly. She hadn't admitted it to anyone else besides Brittany, but she really did love performing. Singing her favorite song for Sectionals was one of Santana's happiest moments.

"Thanks Rach. Do you have Grease?"

Rachel looked confused.

"What do you need grease for? Please don't tell me that's how you get your hair to look shiny… Oh wait, do you mean the musical?"

Santana had a look of amusement on her face.

"Yes Rachel, I meant the musical. It's one of my favorites."

Rachel quickly put the movie on and curled under her blanket on her bed. Santana was still leaning against Rachel's dresser.

"You can lay down here with me if you want."

Santana shifted uncomfortably. She really wanted to lay down and enjoy the movie but she thought the whole situation was weird.

"Wouldn't that be weird?"

Rachel shot Santana a look that told her to lay down in the bed. Rachel held the covers up for Santana and she slid under them quickly.

"As long as you don't try anything with me, then this won't be weird."

Rachel had a goofy smile on her face that told Santana she was wholeheartedly joking around.

"Sorry Berry, you're not my type."

"Damn, I knew I should have died my hair blonde."

Santana's mouth dropped open at Rachel's comment.

"I'm kidding Santana."

"I realize that but I'm just surprised that you're actually funny. Why can't you be like this at school?"

"Because at school, I need to stay focused. Here I don't have to worry about other things."

Rachel smiled at looked over at Santana. She would have never guessed she would have been in the same bed with Santana willingly, but it was nice.

"And you shouldn't worry about other things either this morning. So be quiet and we can watch the movie."

"You're one to talk. You've said probably at least three times the amount I have this morning which is even a lot for you."

"Shut it Lopez!"

"Someone's feisty today."

Rachel gave Santana a glare and Santana did as she was told. Both girls were quiet throughout the rest of the movie except for the bursts of laughter or singing along to it. When the movie was over, both girls got up from the bed. Santana noticed it was about time to leave to go to school.

"Rachel, we should probably leave soon."

Rachel double checked the clock confirming it was time to leave for school. She grabbed her backpack and a textbook. Santana didn't know if Rachel walked to school or not but she knew the girl didn't have her own car.

"Do you need a ride to school, Rach?"

"Normally I get a ride with my dads but I would love to ride to school with you."

Both girls smiled as they made their way downstairs. Rachel searched for her two fathers and found them in the kitchen. Santana followed closely behind. Before Rachel even got a chance to talk, her dads noticed Santana.

"Who is this Rachel?"

"This is Santana from school. She was having some problems this morning so I offered for her to come over so she could get her mind of things. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all baby. We were just surprised to find a pan with bacon in it. Anyway, hello Santana, I'm Hiram and this is my husband Leroy."

Both men held their hand out for Santana to shake. She obliged with a smile.

"Sorry for intruding in your house."

"It's not a problem Santana. Do you mind us asking what was wrong earlier?"

"Dads, I don't think you can just ask what was wrong. It's not very polite."

"Rach, it's okay. I don't really have anything to hide anymore. The main problem revolves around the fact that I'm in love with my best friend."

"Is he cute?"

Santana coughed a little. At least she knew that they were gay so they wouldn't have a problem with her. Rachel gave an apologetic look for the way her fathers were acting.

"I, uhm, she's beautiful."

"Oh, my. I'm sorry darling. I had no idea."

"It's okay."

"So you love her? What's wrong with that?"

"There's nothing wrong with that. I've just been a coward about my feelings and today is the day I plan on telling her. At halftime during the game tonight, I'm going to tell her. Hopefully it will be romantic enough for her and she will forget all of the stupid things I've done."

"That sounds wonderful Santana. Is there anything we can do to help?"

"I'm going to assume that since you have this wonderful singer for a daughter that you have some musical talent as well, correct?"

"Indeed, that is true."

"Then if Rachel doesn't mind taking the time to teach you two, you can be there to help perform."

"That would be wonderful Santana. We'll be there."

Santana was very content. She woke up with so many worries dragging her down, but Rachel had kicked them out of her thoughts. There was nothing that was going to stop Santana now.

"Thank you."

"Dads, do you mind if I get a ride to school with Santana? She drove here and she said she'd give me a ride there."

"Of course baby. Have a good day at school!"

Rachel kissed her fathers on the cheek goodbye.

"It was nice to meet you Santana. We will see you later at the game."

"It was nice to meet you too. Thank you."

Santana and Rachel left to go to school. The ride was relatively quiet but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Santana parked her car in the normal spot she took and walked with Rachel into the building. Everyone was cheering around her making Santana feel very pumped up for the game. School started quickly after they arrived. Between Santana just staring at Brittany for most of the time in her classes and the shortened periods, the day went relatively fast. The bell for the last class of the day went off and all of the students and staff of McKinley gathered in the gym for a pep rally so everyone could get fired up for the big game. Eventually, the crowd died down and waited for the pep rally to start. Principal Figgins went up to the microphone.

"To your pleasure or not, I will not be announcing this assembly today, your fellow classmate Rachel Berry will be."

Rachel stood up in front of the school and went to the microphone.

"Hello everyone."

Someone coughed loudly, other than that, the school stayed quiet.

"So, I was originally going to do this by myself but it looks like I'm going to need a little bit of help. Puck, can you come up here?"

Rachel had already told Puck that she was going to need his help. She wanted this pep rally to actually get everyone fired up for the game. Puck walked up to the microphone.

"Hey McKinley."

Just about everyone cheered for Puck.

"So tonight is the big game. My girls Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce are going to play their asses off so you better be there. And in case you don't listen to me, maybe actually having something fun happening at this pep rally will make you want to go."

The crowd started clapping.

"Normally we don't do this kind of stuff here, but I guess it can't hurt right? Okay, I'm going to need some kids to come down here. And some teachers."

While choosing people, the marching band was playing some music. Puck and Rachel picked 10 kids, a few from Glee and some football players. They picked teachers they knew and made sure that Coach Sue was picked. Rachel and Puck had the students stand across from the teachers not too far apart.

"So the whole point of this is we are going to have a pie throwing contest. The students are going to get a chance to throw pies at the teachers."

All of the students were cheering, mainly because Coach Sue was an awful person and they wanted to see her get hit with a pie. Rachel and Puck handed everyone pies. Rachel saw that Santana was across from Coach Sue. She leaned close to Santana as she handed her the pie so no one else would hear her.

"There's extra whip cream and even chocolate sauce to make it extra messy on this pie. Get her good."

Santana smiled.

"You know I will."

Rachel backed away and waited for Puck to finish. Brittany saw the interaction with Santana and Rachel and was confused. She whispered to Quinn who was next to her.

"Since when do they talk?"

Quinn gave Brittany a confused look until she pointed at Santana and Rachel talking.

"Don't worry about it Britt. I would bet you ten dollars that it had something to do with Coach Sue."

"Why do you say that?"

"Santana is across from her. And look at all the other pies. The one Santana has is the only one with chocolate sauce and it has a lot more whip cream."

Brittany looked at all of the pies and realized Quinn was right.

"Okay Quinn, you're right."

"Of course I am."

Brittany lightly bumped Quinn's arm to try and wipe the smirk off her face. Their attention was brought back to what was happening in front of them when Rachel took the microphone.

"Okay, so here is how this is going to work. We are going to go down the line, one by one and have each student throw the pie. After each throw, I want everyone to shout out how good you thought it was on a scale from one to ten."

Puck took the microphone from Rachel.

"Let the pie throwing commence!"

All of the students cheered. The first couple of pies were thrown and they barely grazed the teachers faces. The farther down the line they went, the better the throws got. Eventually, they got down to the last pair, Santana and Coach Sue. By this time, everyone was stomping their feet in anticipation and the drummers from the marching band had the longest drum roll before Santana went. Rachel looked at Santana which Santana winked back at Rachel. Instead of staying the distance she was apart from Coach Sue, she walked right up to her and smashed the pie in her face. Everyone was quiet for about two seconds before it was an uproar of applause for what Santana just did. Rachel and Puck secretly walked up behind Coach Sue. Puck had an extra can of whip cream and Rachel had the microphone. Before Coach could do anything, Puck sprayed as much of the whip cream as her could on her. Rachel held the microphone closely to Coach Sue's face without her noticing. Coach Sue was outraged, but no one cared as the entire crowd, including teachers and Principal Figgins, was laughing.

"You'll be hearing from my lawyers!"

Coach Sue stormed out of the gym. The applause got even louder. Rachel handed Santana the microphone. Santana pointed at Brittany to come down to the floor. Brittany followed Santana's instructions and stood next to her. Once the laughter died down, Santana spoke to the crowd.

"Hey McKinley!"

The students started clapping again. Santana knew she would be a legend for being the one who smashed a pie directly in to Coach Sue's face. She was definitely happy about that.

"So tonight is the big game. My girl Brittany, the team.."

Santana pointed to where the rest of the members of the basketball team were sitting. They all waved to the crowd excitedly.

"And I really hope you can make it to the game tonight. It's going to be a tough one and I think with your support, we can win it. There will be a couple of performances as well during halftime. I promise it will be a fun night. So please come out and show your support!"

The crowd cheered loudly. Santana was happy to know that there would be a huge crowd later. After the pie thing, she wouldn't be surprised if the gym was literally packed full. Santana looked at Brittany as if to ask if there was anything she wanted to say. Brittany grabbed the microphone. Santana felt Brittany's fingers brush along hers.

"And if we win, I promise to take my shirt off after the game!"

Santana smiled widely at Brittany. She should have known that Brittany would say something like that. The crowd was cheering loudly as they left the gym to go home. Santana stayed back in the gym. As Rachel was walking away, she noticed Santana staying so she went back to talk to her. Suddenly the gym was empty except for the two of them.

"Everything alright Santana?"

Santana thought she was alone so she was confused for a second until she looked up and saw Rachel.

"What? Oh, uh, yeah. Everything's fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I'm just kind of mentally preparing myself for tonight."

"Do you want to be alone or something?"

"No. I mean normally I am alone before a game, but I wouldn't mind having someone with me. Would you mind coming with me to the locker room? I want to change into some shorts so I can shoot around. I thought maybe you could rebound for me or something."

"I don't know what rebound means but whatever it is I'll help."

Rachel flashed a big smile at Santana as they walked to the locker room.

"You know, if you're going to be my friend, you should probably learn some basketball terminology."

Rachel followed Santana to the locker room where Santana quickly changed her clothes. She put up her hair and grabbed her basketball. Rachel was kind of dazed and off in her own world. Santana nudged her arm to shake her out of it.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah!"

Santana and Rachel went to the gym. For a while, both girls were quiet as Santana would shoot the ball and Rachel would pass the ball back to her.

"Rachel?"

"Yeah Santana?"

Rachel just passed the ball back to Santana.

"You're rebounding the ball."

Rachel got excited even though she didn't know what that meant.

"Is that a good thing?"

"For me it is. Then I don't have to do it myself."

"So what exactly is rebounding?"

Santana shot the ball and purposely missed. She quickly ran to get the rebound.

"That is a rebound. If you're still confused, it's when someone shoots the ball and you catch it."

"That's all it is?"

"Yep. See now even Broadway star Rachel Berry learned something about basketball."

Rachel and Santana laughed.

"So Santana, are you ready for tonight?"

Santana's playful mood went away quickly.

"I don't think I'll ever be."

"Oh come on Santana. You have to face your feelings eventually. Waiting around won't get you with Brittany."

"Why do you have to be right?"

"Because I just always am."

Santana threw the ball at Rachel who surprisingly caught it. The girls laughed a little while longer. Santana just wanted forget all her worries about the night to come.

"Rachel, do you need to be anywhere before the game starts?"

"No, I don't think so. Why?"

"Do you want to help me with my pregame ritual then?"

Rachel eyed Santana carefully. This could either be a really big joke or Santana being sincere. She desperately hoped for the latter option.

"Sure. What can I assist you with?"

"It's nothing special. I just run two miles, eat a little bit of food, then run a couple of drills to get pumped up."

Rachel was happy that Santana wasn't playing some prank on her.

"So you want me to do those things with you?"

Santana suddenly felt nervous.

"Yeah. I mean I used to never want anyone to interrupt my workout routine but surprisingly you are the only one besides Britt who I am okay with doing that."

"I'm flattered Santana."

Rachel happily obliged with Santana's request for her to join her on her pregame warm up. She was thankful that she was already wearing shorts. The girls ran outside for two miles. It was peaceful for Santana because Rachel wasn't talking so she could clear her head. Santana's mind wandered to what could happen a couple hours later. "_The game is really important tonight. I want to focus on that but it's so hard when all that's on my mind is Brittany. I really want her to say yes tonight. I know she loves all that romantic stuff but I'm not very good at it. What if she doesn't like it? How am I going to handle being possibly rejected in front of the whole school? Maybe she will like it. Yeah, I just have to think like that. I mean, why wouldn't she like it? I'm combining like all of her favorite things into one. And pretty much everyone we know is helping so maybe she'll realize I'm serious about this. She can't say no. I love her. She can't say no." _Rachel stopped running because they reached the school again. Santana had been too distracted with her thoughts to notice and ran straight into Rachel. Both girls fell into a heap on the ground. Rachel noticed she had no visible injuries and started freaking out that Santana may have something wrong.

"Santana. Oh my god, are you hurt? Do you need any help? Please tell me you're okay."

Santana finally became fully aware of what was going on around her. She noticed Rachel's hysterical face. Santana scanned her body and moved her limbs to double check nothing was wrong. She noticed a little bit of blood but there wasn't any pain.

"I'm fine. Just a scrape on my knee."

Rachel quickly examined Santana's knee.

"Do you want me to run and go get you a band aid?"

"Rachel, I'll be fine. Let's just go to the trainer's room and get a band aid before we go eat something."

Rachel nodded feeling really bad that he almost injured Santana. Santana spoke up as if she could read her thoughts.

"Rachel, stop worrying. It wasn't your fault. I was totally lost in my thoughts and I didn't even notice that you stopped."

Rachel smiled softly back to Santana. She still felt bad but Rachel did feel better knowing that it wasn't solely her own fault. The girls got a band aid to cover Santana's knee and left to go to the locker room. Santana grabbed a paper bag that carried the food she normally eats before a game. They both walked to the cafeteria and sat down at an empty table. Santana opened the bad and chuckled softly a she noticed her mom put a note in her bag telling her good luck. Her mom packed her way too much food for her to eat before a game so she offered some to Rachel.

"I have a salad here if you want it. My mom packed way too much food for me to eat before the game so you can have it."

Rachel accepted it and both girls started eating.

"How come you normally do this routine by yourself?"

"I normally do something with Brittany, but these past couple of weeks have been weird so I've been letting her do her own thing. And as you know I don't exactly get along very well with anyone else."

"I don't see why."

Santana felt so confused after that comment.

"Are you kidding me? I'm a bitch to everyone."

"I know, but under that hard shell is a softer side, like the one I saw this morning. I think if you let more people see that side, you would probably be a lot closer with more people."

Santana contemplated Rachel's words for a bit. She knew that Rachel was right.

"Stop being right all the time or I won't share my grapes with you."

Rachel smirked at Santana.

"Wanky."

Santana's eyebrows quirked up.

"Now you really don't get them. Only Britt can steal my joke."

"Oh come on San."

Santana looked at Rachel who had a pout on her face. She should have been used to it by now because Brittany always used the pout on her but she knew she would crumble under it anyways.

"Fine, but if you tell anyone that I'm being this nice to you, there will be consequences."

Rachel popped a grape into her mouth.

"My lips are sealed."

She accented her words by zipping her mouth shut with her fingers. Santana just shook her head and laughed a little. The girls shared a couple more laughs before the food was gone. Santana stood up first to throw away the trash. She walked back to Rachel.

"You still want to help me warm up?"

"Of course. I've actually wanted to see how sporty people prepare for games. I know my warm up for competitions is completely different."

Santana just nodded in agreement. They went back to the locker room quickly to grab the basketball and went back into the gym. Santana tried to explain to Rachel some of the drills she does before games but Rachel just seemed really confused. Enough of the ideas stuck in Rachel's head so that she was actually beneficial to Santana. After taking over 300 shots, Santana decided it was a good idea to stop. She was a little bit out of breath as she started to talk to Rachel.

"Thanks for really everything today."

"It's no big deal Santana. I'm glad I could be of assistance."

To Rachel's surprise Santana pulled her into a hug. Rachel quickly hugged back.

"What was that for?"

Santana pulled away and started to fidget a bit. She had never been good with anything sentimental.

"Uh, without you, I probably would have broken down crying today. So uhm, I was just saying thanks."

"Awh, Santana!"

Rachel hugged her again. Normally Santana would be mad that someone was hugging her but this time she felt herself give into it.

"If you ever need my help, I'm here for you, even if you are being a total bitch that day."

Santana's face lit up in shock. She normally isn't used to people being so nice to her. She was also surprised that Rachel swore.

"Rachel Berry, what a potty mouth you have. Should I tell the Berry fathers of your foul mouth when they come to the game tonight?"

Santana wore her signature smirk. Normally, she would truly mean a comment like that, but this time she didn't. "_I think Brittany is wearing off on me. I'm becoming so nice, especially to Rachel. Whatever. I could use a friend to talk about things that I can't tell Brittany. Especially if it's something like what we're doing tonight."_

Rachel waved her hand a couple of times in front of Santana's face to get her attention. She was about to say something back to Santana's comment until she noticed that Santana's mind was somewhere else. Santana was brought back to the present.

"Uh, what? Sorry Rach."

Rachel shook her head with a smile on her face.

"I don't know how Brittany puts up with you. You can never stay focused."

"Uh, yeah. I do kind of have that problem. Anyway, uh, if you want you can go home now, so you can you know, change clothes for tonight."

Rachel looked down at her clothes as if just realizing that she wasn't already in costume.

"Right. Well, I probably won't see you before the game starts, so good luck."

Rachel hugged Santana quickly and ran away before Santana could complain.

"Bye Santana!"

Santana just smiled. She waited until Rachel left the gym entirely before she walked away in case the smaller girl forgot something. As Santana was walking out of the gym, she noticed there was still another hour before she needed to be back in the locker room to change into her jersey. Santana decided to grab her headphones and go back in the gym to sit on the bleachers and just get into game mode. She opened her locker quickly, grabbing her headphones and ipod in one swift motion. As Santana shut the locker, she saw a flash of blonde go around the corner along with a soft humming noise.

"Britt?"

The humming suddenly stopped but no one responded.

"Britt, is that you?"

Santana walked closer to where the noise had been coming from earlier. Just as she was about to look around the corner, Brittany jumped out. Santana jumped a couple of feet back.

"I scared ya."

As much as Santana wanted to get mad at Brittany for scaring her like that, she couldn't do it.

"Yeah you did."

"You getting ready for the game?"

"Yeah. I'm a little ahead of schedule today."

"So does that mean you have time to talk?"

Brittany had been wanting to talk to Santana ever since the conversation she had with her mom. This was the first real opportunity she had. Brittany noticed Santana got slightly nervous.

"Uhm yeah, sure Britt. What's up?"

"Well we haven't really talked since the auditorium thing."

Santana knew where this conversation was going. She felt conflicted inside because on one hand she really wanted to talk to Brittany about this, but on the other she didn't like talking about her feelings. Then, Santana also wanted to wait until after the game to talk to Brittany about everything.

"Yeah I know…"

Santana looked down at the floor and Brittany frowned at the comment. She knew that Santana doesn't like to talk about feelings but she hoped that she would at least say more. Brittany brought her hand to Santana's chin to lift it up so Santana would look at her.

"Santana, are we going to be okay? I miss my best friend."

Both girls looked into each others' eyes. Santana pulled Brittany into a hug. She felt the same.

"I miss you too. I promise we're going to be okay. After tonight, I promise things will be better."

The words made Brittany happy but they confused her.

"What's tonight? I mean the game isn't the reason that we haven't been close for awhile right?"

Santana pulled away from the hug. Both girls missed the contact instantly.

"What? No. Just, please don't worry about it Britt, okay?"

Brittany didn't want to give up so easily on it but the way Santana was looking at her made her oblige. Santana and Brittany stood together in a comfortable silence. Eventually Brittany spoke up.

"Are you nervous for tonight?"

Santana felt beyond nervous. "_So many things can go wrong tonight. Maybe if I just focus on the game first, then I can worry about my romantic gesture. One thing at a time." _Instead of telling Brittany her insecurities, she brushed it off.

"A little. It's a big game, but I have faith in the team and you."

Brittany smiled at first to Santana's comment but then it faltered.

"What about you?"

Santana didn't understand what Brittany meant.

"What about me?"

"Do you have faith in yourself? Because I know that you can do it. I just want to make sure that you know that I believe in you and so does the rest of the team. We voted you captain for a reason. But I want you to know that even if you do mess up tonight, that you will still be my best friend. No mistake will change the way I look at you. You will still be Santana Maria Lopez, the girl that knows me better than anyone else. Don't let any insecurities get the best of you. You're strong and we need you tonight. The team looks up to you. I'm not saying you are the only reason we win, but you are the reason that we don't fall apart in games. The team needs you tonight, I need you tonight."

Santana felt a tear slide down her face.

"That is seriously the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me."

Brittany wiped her thumb against Santana's cheek to remove the tear. Without thinking, she brought her other hand up to cup Santana's face. Brittany surged forward pressing her lips against Santana's. Santana kissed back briefly before Brittany pulled away.

"I, uh, I'm sorry Santana. I'll, uh, finish letting you get ready for the game. See ya in a little while."

With that, Brittany left the locker room. Santana tried to call out to Brittany or at least stop her somehow but she felt frozen. When her feet finally did move, Santana checked the hallways and the gym but couldn't find Brittany anywhere.

When Brittany left the locker room, she went to the library because she knew that Santana would never look for her there. Luckily the doors were still unlocked. Brittany sat in the farthest back shelves to try to figure out what was going on in her head. "_Why did you do that Brittany? Everything was going fine until you had to go and kiss her. Now you've probably messed up everything. She won't even want to be friends with you anymore. Why did you kiss her? She looked beautiful but she always looks pretty. Why did that moment have to be different? Maybe I can talk to her after the game and fix everything. I just need to stop kissing her like that. Then, once I fix everything, maybe we can go back to being best friends because I miss her." _Brittany's thoughts consumed her for a long time until she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She frowned until she pulled it out and noticed it was a text from Santana. "_Maybe everything will be okay." _Brittany opened the message.

"_After the game today, we have to talk."_

Brittany thought about a response to the message. She knew that they did have to talk. When she was about to send a message back, she got another one from Santana.

"_Wherever you are you might want to come back to the locker room. IT'S ALMOST GAME TIME!"_

Brittany smiled at the message. She knew that Santana wasn't yelling at her. It was Santana's way of trying to get her pumped up. She quickly typed a reply to Santana.

"_Be right there! Those lazy cougars are going down!"_

Thanks to Santana, Brittany had developed a bit of a competitive edge when it came to sports or Glee. She really wanted to win the game tonight so that the team could go to state. Brittany checked the time and realized she had very little left to make it to the locker room in time. She walked out of the library and then sprinted to the locker room. Thankfully the coach wasn't in there yet, so Brittany had enough time to get changed without being yelled at for being late. After only a few minutes, Brittany had her jersey and shorts, socks, and shoes on. Brittany sat down in her normal spot next to Santana just in time before Coach came in. Brittany really wanted to talk to Santana quickly but she didn't get a chance because the coach started talking right away.

"Okay ladies. Tonight's the big game. Everything we have done so far has lead up to this moment. Every win and loss, every practice, every little second has made us what we are right now. I don't care if we win or lose this game, but I do care that you ladies laid everything out on the line. I want you to give everything you've got tonight. No matter what happens, I want you to know that I'm proud of you ladies. It would, however, be nice if we did win. So how about we kick some ass for good ol' coach here?"

Everyone stood up and cheered loudly.

"WHO ARE WE?"

"THE TITANS!"

"I SAID, WHO ARE WE?!"

"THE TITANS!"

The team put a hand into the middle.

"1, 2, 3 TITANS!"

The girls ran out of the locker room and went to the gym. As they ran through, the entire side of the home bleachers stood up cheering and clapping loudly. There wasn't a single empty space in the McKinley side of the stands. Santana and Brittany just looked at the crowd in awe. They had never had so many people come to a game but it felt good to know that they were all there to cheer them on. Brittany noticed that Santana was rubbing the sweatband that rested a bit higher than her left elbow. She bumped Santana a little bit to get her attention.

"Stop worrying about it. They all love you. I love you. You can do this."

Brittany hooked her arm with Santana's to bring her to the court where they started warmups. Santana lost some of her focus on the game when she thought about Brittany's words. They kept replaying over and over in her head. "_They all love you. I love you." _When Santana wasn't paying attention, a teammate passed her the ball. It hit her in the shoulder because she didn't even see it coming. Thankfully, Santana didn't get hurt. It did serve as a wake up call for her as she suddenly got really pumped. She wanted to beat the other school so bad because they thought they were so much better than everyone else. Eventually, the buzzer went off and both teams went back to their benches. The starting five for each team sat down on the bench. When the starters for the Cougars were being announced, Santana looked into the crowd. She was surprised to find that her mother was there. Maribel was sitting next to the Pierce family who were all bouncing excitedly in their seats. Not too far away from them, Santana found Rachel's dads who waved at her when they saw that she looked in their direction. She smiled at the kind gesture of the two men. In the front couple of rows, Santana spotted all of the kids in Glee club. Rachel gave her a thumbs up. Santana noticed that the other team's starters were all mentioned. The first three from the Titans were announced with a fair amount of cheering.

"Starting Senior at 5'8", #13, Brittany Pierce!"

The McKinley crowd went wild. Santana noticed how happy Brittany looked as everyone cheered for her. After the noise settled down, Santana knew she was up next.

"Last but not least, starting senior and team captain at 5'6", #5, Santana Lopez!"

Everyone cheered just as loudly. During the cheers, Santana and Brittany started the ridiculous handshake they came up during a basketball camp in 7th grade. It was something they did before every game. When they finished, the girls took their spots on the court. Brittany stood across from a girl who must have been over six feet tall to start the tip off. Thankfully Brittany had gotten used to going up against girls who were taller than her. They normally had the height advantage, but she could always out jump them. This game was no different. The whistle went off as the ball was thrown in the air by the referee. Brittany tipped it back to Santana with ease and with that, the game went underway. The first quarter was very close. Every time one team scored, the other came right back. It was a tight and low score by the end of the first with the Titans up by one, 12-11. The second quarter didn't go as well for them, however. Some of the girls were losing the energy they had throughout the first quarter and weren't able to stop the other team from scoring. At the end of the first half the score was 23-39. As the teams left to go back to the locker room, Santana made sure that the person at the scoreboard didn't start the clock right away. After double checking, she caught up with the rest of the team. The girls made it by the whiteboard and sat down before the coach was in the locker room. As soon as the coach went into the room, she threw her clipboard. It crashed into the wall scaring all of the girls.

"What the hell was that? First quarter was great. What happened to the girls who kept the Cougars to almost under 10 points? I want those girls back. You need to dig inside of yourselves and find them because we need them to win this game. Lopez, can you handle that girl? I know she's fast but so are you."

"Yes Coach."

"Good. Stay smart and you will be fine. Pierce, what's going on out there?"

Brittany felt bad because there had been a few moments that she hadn't been totally focused on the game. Sometimes she would notice a certain raven-haired girl and stop paying attention to the game. "_You need to focus Britt. Be like high school musical, get'cha' head in the game."_

"A girl got into my head a bit. This half will be better coach because I won't let that happen."

"Okay. Now that we've got that covered, let's crush them this half. You girls have worked too hard to give up now."

The girls cheered as they walked out of the gym. Santana talked to the coach quietly and in a rush.

"Coach, can you talk to Brittany for a minute? I just need just a bit of time to make sure that everything is all set up."

"Go Lopez. I've got it covered."

Santana smiled and ran to the gym. As she entered, the lights had already been dimmed down. She double checked that the other team was already in there and so were all her teammates. Puck stood at the door with a bucket. Santana grabbed it from him, nodding in his direction to say thanks. She lightly sprinkled the rose petals across the floor all the way to center court. Puck had followed her, so when it was empty she tossed it to him. Santana double checked that all of the kids from Glee and Brittany's family were where they needed to be. Rachel smiled at her to let her know that the mics were working fine for them. When she felt satisfied that everything was right, she grabbed the microphone and put it on her head securely. Santana double checked that Brittany was coming through the door, which she was. She sent the cue to Finn who started to play the music.

* * *

Brittany was confused as to why Coach kept her back longer than the other girls, but became even more confused when she walked into the gym. There were rose petals on the floor and the lights had been dimmed down. When she looked up, she saw everyone from Glee on the court along with her family. Then she noticed Santana looking at her from center court. Brittany suddenly recognized the music that was playing. Brittany loved when the had a Britney Spears week and she sang this song. She kept walking closer to Santana when everyone started to dance. She got freaked out a bit but followed the petals to where Santana stood. When Brittany was in front of her, Santana started singing.

**I know I may be young, but I've got feelings too.**

**And I need to do what I feel like doing.**

**So let me go and just listen.**

Suddenly, the music changed. Brittany recognized it from Britney week again. Everyone had stopped dancing.

**All my people on the floor**

**Let me see you dance**

After those lines, Brittany noticed everyone started dancing around her.

**Let me see ya**

**All my people wantin' more**

**Let me see you dance**

**I wanna see ya**

**All my people round and round**

**Let me see you dance**

**Let me see ya**

**All my people in the crowd**

**Let me see you dance**

The crowd jumped up and started dancing all around on the floor.

**I wanna see ya**

**So how would you like a friendly competition**

**Let's take on the song**

**It's you and me baby, we're the music**

Santana looked straight into Brittany's eyes. Brittany wanted to say something but the music changed again. This time it was a song she remembered that Santana sang before.

**Since I've come on home,**

**Well my body's been a mess**

**And I've missed your blonde hair**

**And the way you like to dress**

Suddenly Mike pulled her in to dance with him. The moves that they did for the performance of that song came rushing back to her. The crowd started clapping to the beat of the song.

**Won't you come on over**

**Stop making a fool out of me**

**Why don't you come on over, Valerie?**

Mike and Brittany finished their dance. When they were done, Mike spun her back to Santana when the music changed one more time. Santana signalled for Ashley to come over to them. Ashley started to dance with Brittany as Santana sang.

**Oh! Wanna dance with somebody**

**I wanna feel the heat with somebody**

**Yeah! Wanna dance with somebody **

**With somebody who loves me**

Ashley smiled and handed Brittany back to Santana. The girls started a quick waltz.

**Oh! Wanna dance with somebody**

**I wanna feel the heat**

**Yeah! Wanna dance with somebody **

**With somebody who loves me**

The music stopped and so did everything else around the girls. Santana was a bit out of breath so she just stared at Brittany for a few seconds. She started to get lost in Brittany's eyes until Puck coughed in the background.

"Wow, I had what I was planning on saying all in my head and now I can't remember it. Uhm, well Britt, I did this because I know you love when people do romantic things for you. I have screwed up so many times these past couple of weeks, so I knew I had to do something major. Brittany, I'm done hiding. I don't care if the whole school knows anymore."

Santana turned and faced the crowd.

"I'M GAY!"

Brittany chuckled out loud.

"See Britt, I'm willing to do whatever for you. I just yelled to the whole school that I'm gay."

Ashley walked up to Santana and handed her a rose. Santana got down on one knee. Brittany's face lit up in shock. She felt a tear stream down her face.

"Brittany Susan Pierce."

Santana held the rose up to Brittany.

"Will you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?"

At this time, the gym was so quiet that a pin could be heard dropping. After the initial shock wore off, Brittany grabbed the flower and pulled Santana up.

"Yes. A million times yes."

Santana grabbed Brittany's face and pulled her in for a kiss. The crowd erupted into applause and cheers. After a minute, Coach came up to the girls. Her voice broke them out of their moment.

"I don't mean to interrupt you girls, but we do have a game to win."

"Right, let's win this!"

Santana took off the microphone. They went back on the court and the girls played their hearts out. Just like the last game, the Titans were down by one point, 71-72, with five seconds left. The roles were reversed this time. Brittany had the ball but there wasn't an open shot for her. She made her way down the court. With a fake to the right, she passed the ball to an open Santana on the left. Just as quickly as the ball entered Santana's hands, it left going for the shot. The ball arched to the hoop. It bounced around the rim a couple of times before falling through the net. Everyone was jumping and cheering as the McKinley girls just made it to the state tournament for the first time ever. This time, Brittany picked up Santana into a big hug.

"Santana, we did it!"

Santana smiled and kissed Brittany. They were broken from the kiss as the team lifted them up into the air. Both girls smiled happily not just because of the game, but that they could finally kiss like that in public.

* * *

**A/N: This was a long one because I didn't want to split it into different chapters. I promised that the plan would be revealed in this chapter and I didn't want to disappoint. Thanks for reading y'all. I'll be posting soon!**


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